Secret Life
by Ash8585
Summary: This is where Ricky and Amy's story begins and will hopefully continue throughout the rest of the show. This story isn't meant to deviate from the actual show, but to show insight behind the things that Ricky and Amy actually say and do.
1. Chapter 1

One Time at Band Camp:

"Here we go" Amy said to herself, trying to shake the uneasiness that had been building in her stomach all week. She was finally starting High School in a month and that meant that she was going to her first ever band camp in less than 3 days! This could be a new beginning for her. Throughout school she had always been shy and stand-offish. She always felt so awkward around other people, especially guys. The only friends she had were Lauren and Madison and she had known them since the 3rd grade. They did everything together, but now Amy would be going off to band camp alone. _What if no one likes me and I spend the whole time by myself?_ She thought. _"Ok Amy, you have to stop thinking like that or you're gonna make yourself sick"_.

"Amy, we're going to be late" yelled Anne, Amy's mother.

"ok mom, i'm coming" said Amy stuffing the last bit of clothing into her suitcase.

"oh Amy, you are going to have such a good time. I can't wait to hear all about it" said Anne.

"Thanks Mom, I'll call you this evening when I get settled in. I promise…" sighed Amy.

Anne and Amy had always been close, but Amy was so nervous that she couldn't seem to find the words to tell her mom that she wasn't sure if she could do this. They arrived at the school to find all of the other students already loaded on the bus. Amy's heart sank. Everyone would be watching her. She was the last one there. She said goodbye to Anne in the car and made her way to the bus of kids all the while staring at the ground. She stepped up to the teacher at the front of the bus and gave her name "Amy Jeurgens"

"bout time, we were about to leave you here. Take a seat" said the heavy set middle aged woman.

The only seat open was towards the back of the bus and Amy practically ran to get to it and slump down. She placed her headphones in her ears and drifted away to the music playing on her ipod.

Ricky had been to band camp twice before even though he was just a sophomore. He had been good enough to make the high school band while he was still in middle school. So this was his third year and he felt like he ruled the place. There was always an endless line of girls waiting to get with him, and he was more than happy to oblige. As he climbed on the bus he started thinking about all the girls he had been with. He was only 16 and could get any girl he wanted. Which was more than fine with him, until they wanted to turn it into something more. Ricky had never been in a relationship. Not a real one. He slept with his partners and then left or kicked them out. He was too scared to let them stay. He needed his space after sex. It was better to have them hate him than to be heartbroken because of him. If he stuck around afterwards they would become too clingy. Sex. That's all he wanted.

Ricky climbed on the bus with his duffle bag and his sticks hanging out of his back pocket. He made his way to the back of the bus throwing his bag in the corner and using it as a pillow to lie down and stretch out. After 20 minutes or so he started getting restless.

_"What is taking so long?"_ he thought as he sat up to look around.

"Amy Jeurgens" he heard her say. His ears perked at the sounds of her sweet innocent voice. He sat there hidden by the seat, examining her as she walked to the back of the bus. She looked nervous, but man was she beautiful. She had long thin legs and copper brown hair that seemed to hide her face. As she sat he saw her push the hair out of her eyes and he was mesmerized by how gorgeous and innocent she looked. She was sitting just diagonal of him so he could watch her the whole trip. After she put her earbuds in he noticed that she just drifted away never seeming to move. He had to have this girl. _"this could be a lot of fun"_ he thought.

The bus lurched to a stop throwing Amy from her daze. After gathering her things she stood up and made her way to the front of the bus. There were many buses unloading at the same time and the confusion and noise was making her head swim. Everyone was divided into boys and girls and then separated into their cabins. Amy was in cabin 8. The other side of the lake.

Ricky had always been in the same cabin, Cabin 9. After getting off the bus he went to the director and got his key and started to make his way around the lake. It was so nice on that side. You were away from all of the action. The counselor's cabins were at the front and so were all the activities. It allowed Ricky to come and go as he pleased.

Amy made her way up to her cabin and pushed the door open. The lights were on and there were two girls already inside. "Hi!" one of them squealed. "I'm Audrey, and this is Megan" the taller one said. They were both pretty but Megan definitely had the better figure. Megan had curves... and boobs! Amy wanted boobs so bad she couldn't stand it. She always felt like she was a stick figure and that was why guys never noticed her.

Amy asked "Are you all freshmen?"

"oh no, we're both sophomores. We go to Palm Springs, how about you?" said Audrey.

"oh, i'm g-going to G-Grant High School." Amy stuttered. All of a sudden her stutter was back. _"Why now"_ she thought.

"oh my gosh, that means you're going to school with Ricky Underwood!" Megan shouted.

"uh, I guess. Who's that?" Amy questioned starting to get a little nervous.

"He's only THE hottest guy here! He's a sophomore and he's a percussionist. All the girls want him!" explained Audrey.

"oh, well I don't know him" said Amy shyly and went towards an empty bed.

The other two girls went on chattering about what a hunk he was while they unpacked their things. Amy thought to herself that she hadn't noticed anyone that "hot" on the bus. Maybe he wasn't here this year. That evening the girls went to eat early and came back to the cabin. Audrey and Megan sat around gossiping about all the happenings from last summer. Amy listened contently as she drifted off to sleep.

The next day they began drills and individual section practice. Drills were very hard for Amy. It required a lot of coordination, which she had none, and a lot of concentration. A small group had been singled out to work on their fundamentals. Everyone else was sitting around the football field watching, which made Amy even more nervous. As they started she glanced around the field to see if people were actually watching when she caught someone's eye. It was this guy sitting with a couple of his friends, but he was staring at her. Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced back at him again. He was still staring, and then he raised his hand to wave. _"oh my god, he's waving at me! What do I do?"_ she thought. Just as she was about to raise her hand the trumpet player behind her crashed right into the back of her head and started shouting for her to get back in line. She turned and rushed to get back to in place, cheeks a bright crimson color.

Ricky had been hanging out by the field with a couple of his buddies to check out all the cute girls when he saw her. She was in a small group and he could tell that she was struggling. He smirked as he watched her scan the groups of people that were all around the field. He caught her eye, smiled and waved to her. It seemed to throw her off her step and he laughed as the guy behind her almost mowed her over.

Amy played the french horn, and was pretty good at it as well. She was immediately noticed by the band director who made her first chair and by the end of the week she was given a solo in their end of camp concert. Amy always felt like she could shine while she was playing music. All of a sudden people were listening to the music she was making and not just staring at her. After practice she went to the mess hall and sat down to go over her music for her solo. She was startled as she heard

"hi"

"hi" she said back. Looking up to see the same guy from the field earlier that day.

"are you Amy? I'm ricky, someone told me you're going to grant in the fall"

"yea grant high school you mean" _"what else would he mean? You're such a dork"_ she thought.

"yea grant high school. That's my school. we're gonna be going to the same school. we'll be in the same band. Mind if I sit down?" he asked

"oh no, go ahead." _"does he want me to get up?" _she thought looking around nervously.

"i'm sorry, were you waiting for someone? A boyfriend maybe?" he asked looking concerned.

"me? no I don't have a boyfriend." she said, just a little too quickly. _"come on amy, calm down. He's just a guy."_

"come on, a girl as pretty as you doesn't have a boyfriend?" he smirked.

"no" I said getting more and more nervous.

"why not?" he asked pointedly.

"I don't know, I don't want a boyfriend. I'm not that interested in guys right now" she said

"oh, you go the other way. Nothing wrong with that" he said with a smirk and a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"no! no, I like boys it's uh. I mean, I like girls too." she stuttered. _Why did he make me so nervous?_

"nothing wrong with that" he said with a chuckle.

"No, I just. I don't have a boyfriend. I mean I have a couple of really close girlfriends... friends who are girls." Amy stammered.

"But you don't have a boyfriend." Ricky stated confidently.

"no" she sighed.

"Hi ricky", came a voice from over Amy's shoulder.

"hi" he said back with a perplexed look on his face, glancing back to Amy.

"Gail…" she said

"hi Gail" he said back to her very matter of fact.

"you don't even remember, do you?" she scoffed.

"remember..." he said shaking his head slightly

She rolled her eyes and looked over at Amy, seeming to notice her for the first time.

"oh, forget it" she said and walked off.

"all right" he said with a sigh as he turned back to me. "I remember. I made out with her under the bleachers last summer, only to find out that she's got a boyfriend here at camp. I don't want any trouble. That's why I was asking about your boyfriend."

_"oh my god, I think he likes me"_ she thought. "I don't have a boyfriend" Amy said biting her lower lip.

"All right then. I'm not exactly boyfriend material, but maybe we could do something tonight?" he asked

"Tonight?" She stammered.

"Yea, me and you. Unless you don't want to." he said. He was so confident.

"No, it's just that I'm the freshman soloist tonight." She said timidly.

"Wow! I'm impressed. I'll make sure i'm there at the concert to hear you play." he exclaimed.

_"like i'm not nervous enough"_ she thought

"See ya later Amy" he said as he sauntered off.

"so" came a voice from Amy's left. "Ricky Underwood asked you out? Aren't you just the princess of The Best of the Best Band Camp? She said with one hand on her hip. "every girl at this camp wants to go out with him."

"Really?" Amy asked. Not able to contain her smile.

"yea really, he is so hot" she said.

"yea, I guess he is" Amy clamored. Her smile growing.

"just… be careful" she said as she walked away.

_"what's that supposed to mean? He was so sweet. She's just jealous"_ Amy thought.

Amy picked up her phone to call Madison and Lauren. She couldn't wait to tell them what just happened. For a while now it had seemed like they were drifting away from each other. So, she thought she would call and let them in on what just happened. Madison cut her short and said that she would call me back later. "_oh well, I really need to get ready for the concert tonight" She thought. _She went back to her cabin and took a long hot shower and changed clothes.

After relaxing for a while Amy went back to the empty cafeteria to practice her concert solo. She was lost in the music when the door opened. It was him…Ricky. He walked in on the last phrase that she kept messing up. But he was clapping. _That's good right?_ She thought. He grabbed a chair and walked over to her.

"Is that your concert piece?" he asked

"yea, I keep messing up on this one phrase" she said, avoiding his eyes.

He sat down and said "It sounded good to me"

"_Breathe…breathe. He's just a guy, just a guy" _she thought as she smiled back at him.

"You know what they say is helpful when you're nervous playing in front of an audience? Picture the audience naked." He stated.

She laughed as she said "I don't think I could do that. I think that would make me more nervous."

"I didn't say you would be naked" he said with a smirk.

"_He said naked again" she thought_

"Go ahead. Let me hear you play." He said with a nod.

"I don't know" she said.

He moved his chair so that he was seated right in front of her and began to count time on her leg. Just the fact that he was touching her gave her goose bumps. He made her so nervous that she could barely speak, but somehow it felt right, like they had known each other for forever. She raised her horn to her mouth and let out the most awful blat. She was so embarassed, but tried to laugh it off.

"My lips are a little dry" she explained, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

In an instant he stood up and leaned in to kiss her. Her heart jumped as he said "they seem fine to me, but I'll get you some water."

She barely got out "yea, water would be great"

Before standing back up he said "you're really pretty, you know that" All Amy could do is bite her lip and smile. "_Did he just kiss me?" she thought_

He brought back a glass of water and then sat across from her as she played the concert piece again.

"You nailed it that time" he said with a smile.

"Thank you" I replied.

"Sure, what are friends for?" he said

"_Oh maybe he just wants to be friends." _ She thought. "Yea, what are friends for" she said back, obviously disappointed.

""You want me to walk you over to the concert tonight?" He asked

"Sure, that would be very friendly" She said trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"I'm a friendly guy." He retorted

"Yea, you are" she agreed

"But I'm not looking for a friend. I have a lot of friends. What I'm looking for is a girlfriend." He explained.

"_He said girlfriend? I know I heard girlfriend. Which doesn't mean he wants me to be his girlfriend." She thought_

"Maybe you could be my girlfriend" he asked.

_EEP! _

"We have a lot in common. We have music in common anyway." He said while picking up her music.

"Yea" she said trying to hide the red that was creeping into her cheeks. She turned to put her horn back in it's case.

"You ok?" he asked.

"I had better be getting back so I can get ready for the concert." She said

"All right. I'll walk you to your cabin." He offered.

"Ok" she said timidly

"Ok? Here I'll take that." He said as he took the instrument.

"_Be cool Amy, this is a cool guy. You're a cool girl". _ She thought as they stood up to leave. They started to walk across the room when he reached for her hand. _ "Cool, be cool." _ She thought.

The evenings' performance went well and somehow seeing him in the audience made her more comfortable. He had seen her mess up earlier today and still thought that she was good. He had been so sweet to try and help. After putting away her instrument in the band room she walked out to find him waiting.

He came and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Amy blushed and asked "would you wanna grab some coffee or something?" She had never asked a guy out, but he made her feel more confident. She wanted to spend more time with him.

He said "I'd love to. I know just the place."

"See… piece of cake. The lock is ancient. Come on in, it's ok." He said while holding the door open.

They were back at the main cabin where they had first met and he had helped her. It just felt right that this is where they would end up.

"I don't know. Are you sure we should be in here?" Amy asked nervously.

Ricky had been persuing Amy for several days now. Usually he would work his magic and the girls would just fall into him. But Amy was different. He actually wanted to get to know her. Any time they were on the field or at practice he found himself searching for her face. _What's the matter with me? I don't want to have a real relationship, do I? _But he had found himself just earlier today telling her that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. _A real girlfriend? I don't even know what that means. _He thought. After the concert he waited for her. He just couldn't help himself. There was something special about this girl. When she asked him to have coffee with her he actually got a little nervous. He wanted to be alone with her though so he took her to the main cabin.

"you're the one that wanted coffee" he said.

"well, I thought that we could just buy a coffee"

"nope, nothing's open this time of night" he said as he eyed her body. He had definitely noticed that she was fit, but had not quite come into her womanly figure. _She'll get there._ He thought.

"I don't know how to make coffee you know" she said pointedly.

"I know how to make coffee" he said with a smirk. "In fact I can make you a hamburger if you want. There's always hamburger meat here."

"well, I am a bit hungry. I was too nervous to eat before the concert." She said with a giggle.

"You were great" He said, trying to boost her confidence.

"You were such a big help this afternoon" she said with a shy smile.

"come on, let's cook something" He said, pulling her towards the kitchen. He really just wanted an excuse to be with her a while longer.

"I don't want you to get into any trouble." She fought.

"we're not going to get into any trouble. We're just gonna have a late night snack, right?" He said as he grabbed my hand.

"Right" she finally gave in.

They entered the kitchen and she watched as he made a few hamburgers and some coffee. She didn't seem to know her way around the kitchen, but that was all right with him.

They sat down at one of the tables and started to talk. They went on about band and how the band director was at Grant high school. Amy told him that she was nervous about marching. Ricky told her that she would just need to get the hang of it and that it was a lot of fun once you knew what you were doing. He let her go on about her family and friends, and she explained to him that her Dad owned a furniture store and that her mom had always stayed home to take care of her and her younger sister, Ashley. It was amazing. She had been so shy at first, but now that she was comfortable she just let loose and was talking to me about everything. Usually Ricky would have broken contact long ago. He never stuck around to "talk" to girls. He didn't typically like to know the details. It made it easier. But with Amy he felt like he could listen to her all night. _Whatever it took to keep her near me__._

"Do you wanna move over to the couch? This bench is getting a little uncomfortable" Ricky stated. Immediately he could see the look of concern on her face. And he was afraid that she was going to run.

"It's late. I should probably get back to my cabin before anyone notices I'm not there." She said uncomfortably.

"come on, I really enjoy talking to you," he explained "there aren't a lot of girls I can talk to."

They moved over to the couch and Amy started back up, telling him all about her life.

"I took piano at first, but I don't know I just wasn't that interested in the piano." She looked over and saw him looking at her with a half smile on his face. "oh no, am I talking too much?" she stammered.

"No, I could listen to you talk all night" he said leaning back against the couch.

"really?" She asked timidly.

"yea… or we could do this" he said as he leaned in to kiss her slowly and softly. He felt like it was his first kiss. He never got weak in the knees from kissing a girl, but she made his heart pound. All he could think about was kissing her. Usually all he could think about was having sex with a girl. It was unusual for him to want to be close to someone. To really get to know them.

She pulled away and said "uh, yea we could do that. I've never done that before." _You make yourself sound like a total loser._ She thought.

"oh yea?. I'll bet you'd be good at it." He said encouragingly.

"_Uh?" _ She thought with a questioning look on her face.

"making out" he pushed

"oh, do you do that a lot?" She asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"I've made out with a few girls before. But not every girl I meet" He lied. "Just if they are special. You're special Amy" He felt like a used car salesman all of a sudden. He wanted to tell her the truth, but he knew that if he did she wouldn't come near him. So, he left it alone.

He leaned back in to kiss her gently at first, only hesitating to see if she would pull away again. When she didn't he deepened the kiss, now pushing his tongue into her mouth. Amy moaned and leaned back as he kissed her with growing intensity. She flinched as he touched her right breast. _Oh no, I didn't mean to let him do that! _She thought, but it felt so good. Ricky was so skilled that Amy hadn't realized that he had slipped her panties out from under her purple overall dress. She kept her eyes closed tight as he continued to kiss her. Amy was nervous, but didn't want to ruin the evening for herself. She really liked Ricky, and she could feel that he liked her too. They were now laying on the couch and Amy had her leg wrapped around Ricky's waist. He quickly unzipped his jeans releasing his ever growing erection.

Ricky hadn't set out this evening to have sex with Amy. He thought that it would take a little more time. So, he hadn't even bothered to grab a condom from his bag before leaving his cabin. That wasn't like him, but then again he hadn't planned on having sex.

Ricky pushed himself up to hover over Amy's rigid body. He could tell that she was nervous, and was pretty sure that this was her first time. She hadn't made any protests so far, and she seemed to be enjoying it so Ricky went for it. He plunged his cock into her and could feel her tense up. He pulled back out and decided that he should be as gentle as possible. He didn't want to hurt her, but that old urge to fuck her as hard as he could until she was screaming started to flood back. "_No" _he thought. _"Not with her"_ but he was so aroused that he only lasted for a couple of minutes before coming inside of her.

He pulled away to look down at her. She looked horrified. And he instantly felt a pang of guilt. "_why did I do that?"_ he thought. He sat up and started to straighten his clothes as Amy did the same. She still looked like she was in a daze. He hated this, the awkward after sex talk. Instinct kicked in and he said "I'll see you around Amy". He walked out of the cabin leaving her huddled on the couch.

Amy wasn't sure what to do. He was kissing her, and she really liked that, but then he started to touch her breasts. She wanted to stop him, but didn't want to hurt his feelings. He had been so nice and she felt like it would be rude to leave now. So she closed her eyes and let him go. She felt him push himself into her and she gasped. "_Are we having SEX?" she thought "This isn't like the movies. I thought it would be romantic and feel good. This does not feel good."_

She sat up trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. He was gone. She was sitting there alone, and feeling empty and confused. She walked back to her cabin slowly and slipped in without a sound as not to wake her roommates. After grabbing a towel she made her way to the bathroom and took a long hot shower. She climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Amy had been back from camp for 2 weeks. The first day of school was still a week away and Amy couldn't wait. Band practice was grueling, and she couldn't stand seeing Ricky all day. She hadn't talked to him since that night at camp. He had tried on a few occasions to talk to her, but she just couldn't. She was too hurt and embarrassed. It was easier just to forget it ever happened. And yet, Amy found herself daydreaming about him. He even caught her staring at him while they were on the practice field yesterday. She didn't even realize she was until he waved at her. She just couldn't help herself. Ricky had this amazing smile that made Amy's stomach turn inside out, but she was mad at him for what happened that night. "_I really thought that we made a connection. He talked to me for hours. Why would he do that if he just wanted to have sex with me? I feel so used." _Amy thought.

It was a little after 8 as Amy got out of her Mom's car. "Bye Mom" Amy said quickly shutting the door. She couldn't wait until she could drive. She made her way to the band room to get her horn. Amy was lost in her thoughts when the door swung open and the smell of bacon hit her nostrils, the aroma almost knocking her off her feet. She ran to the bathroom and spilled the contents of her stomach into the nearest stall. "_What is wrong with me? I never throw up. It must be a bug" _Amysaid looking at herself in the mirror. She cleaned up and made her way back to the band room. Morning drills seemed to last longer than ever and the heat was really not helping her nausea. Amy started to see spots as she sat down in the middle of the practice field. One of the instructors ran over and helped her back into the school.

"here you go, just drink plenty of water. You're dehydrated. You've really gotta be careful out there." The instructor said with a smile.

Amy returned the smile and said "Thanks. I'll be right back. I'm just going to use the rest room."

As she made her way back to the band room she heard a familiar voice. She stood by the door for a moment straining to hear

"Is she ok? I heard she fainted or something." Ricky asked

"she's fine Ricky. Shouldn't you be on the field?" the instructor asked

"uh, yea. I just…. I just wanted to make sure she was ok." He said with his brow furrowed. "Where is she anyway? I didn't see her go back outside."

"if you must know she went to the rest room. Now get back to practice."

Amy was stunned. She didn't think he would notice that she wasn't there. Maybe she was wrong about him. But then again, she had seen him with this majorette. Amy had even come into the band room this morning to find them kissing. When Ricky looked up and saw that it was Amy he had stopped and looked ashamed. "_I hope she's more careful than I was" _Amy thought before heading back out the door.

Amy was exhausted. She had never felt so tired in all her life. She figured that she would adjust once she got used to the rigorous schedule for marching band. At the end of the say she was heading out to the parking lot as she heard a group of girls

"She's been sick for weeks now. She keeps throwing up and she has headaches and said that she is sooo tired. She has to be pregnant. She had sex with her boyfriend 5 weeks ago. What else could it be?"

It hit Amy like a ton of bricks. She too had sex for the first time about 3 weeks ago. And she had been nauseas and tired. _"Oh god!" Amy thought. _ She climbed into her dad's car and asked if they could stop by the drug store on the way home so she could pick up a few things. That was the code they had for tampons. Her Dad said that he would wait in the car. Amy was shaking as she reached for the pink box. "_Can I even buy these at my age?" she thought. _ She walked to the register and checked out asking the cashier to put them in a paper bag. Amy was terrified that her Dad might see what she had really purchased. They pulled in the driveway and her Dad explained that he had to run back to the store for a bit, but to tell her mother that he would be home later.

Amy stuffed the paper bag into her French horn case before walking in the house.

"Hey, I'm glad you're home." Anne said enthusiastically. She hated not having anyone to talk to around the house.

"hey" Amy said meekly

"I was afraid you had marched over a cliff or something." Anne thought that band director was working them way too hard, but Amy seemed to enjoy it so she tried to hold her tongue.

Amy was just trying to get out of kitchen and to the bathroom before her mom noticed something was up. She grabbed her horn and slipped into the half bath before as Anne continued

"I made Pot Roast, your favorite!"

Amy unlatched the case and pulled out the paper bag she had been hiding. She felt a knot growing in her stomach as she felt the urge to throw up creep into the back of her throat. _"no, just do it and get it over with" she thought_.

She was trembling from head to toe. Amy picked up the stick and read _pregnant._ Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror. _"What am I gonna do?"_ is all she could think.

Amy walked in through the orange double doors lugging her French horn and shoulder bag. She stood catching her breath as she watched Ricky walk by her with another girl. All of the other students were bustling through the hallways, and Amy felt invisible. Amy wasn't sure how she was going to get through her first day of high school knowing that she was pregnant! The past week had been torture. Every time she would see Ricky he would smile at her and she would start to tear up and run away. She just had to tell someone.

She found the band room and placed her horn on the shelf. Amy had been playing the French Horn since the third grade, but somehow year after year it never got easier for her to carry. It had always seemed too large and awkward an instrument for a girl her size. But she loved it.

Amy found her locker and started to put her things away. She still had 20 minutes until classes started, so she took the time to get her locker set up. She was putting away her last book when Madison and Lauren came running up to her.

"We saw him" Madison exclaimed

Amy looked at her nervously, not sure what she meant by "him"

"Who?" Amy stuttered

"Mark Molina" replied Lauren

Madison continued with "the new counselor. The new single delicious counselor"

"oh" Amy muttered

"oh?" retorted Madison with raised eyebrows. "that's it? You've got something more exciting than Mark Molina?"

This was it. Amy steadied her nerves and was glancing from her two best friends to the ground when she said "I had sex. "

Madison and Lauren were astonished. At almost the same time they started

"no you didn't" said Lauren

"with who?" pushed Madison

"you couldn't have" Lauren said

"how was it?" Madison smirked

"impossible" said Lauren

"back to who?" exclaimed Madison

Ricky met Adrian in the parking lot on the way in to school. She was bent over getting her batons out of the back of her friends' car when he came up behind her. They had seen each other a few times. Each ending in a marathon make-out session, but no happy ending. Ricky was dying to get a piece of her. The last girl he had been with was Amy at band camp and he just couldn't shake the pang of guilt he felt for sleeping with her like that. She wasn't ready, he knew that now. And even he wasn't ready. He hadn't been planning on it when they met up for coffee. It's just as they say, one thing led to another and it happened. Now he just wanted to forget her face and how scared and helpless she looked afterwards. It reminded him too much of the past and the terrible things that happened to him when he was younger. He tried to talk to her while they were at practice but she avoided him like the plague.

Ricky and Adrian walked into the school together, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. As soon as they opened the doors he saw Amy, but he decided it would be best to ignore her for now. He'd have a hard time talking to her with Adrian in tow anyways and he had other things on his mind.

Ricky leaned in "Come on Adrian. You're hurtin me here. The past two nights have almost killed me. I can't take the stop and go, especially the stop." Ricky pleaded. He really needed to have sex. He had to forget…

"Aww that's too bad" Adrian purred.

"no kidding. It's not good for a guy, it's unhealthy. Dangerous even." He pushed "You know I heard of a guy who had to go to the hospital for that. Permanently damaged him. He's like sterile or something now." Ricky was being overdramatic, but if it worked it worked.

"I told you, I don't do it on the first date" Adrian stated "or the second"

"we've been out on more than a couple of dates" ricky said

"just stopping by my house when my mother's not home is not a date" Adrian confirmed.

"well, I'll take you somewhere. Tonight's the third date" he said flashing her a smirk

"fine then… tonight" she teased

Amy was starting to freak out. She just kept running the whole night at band camp through her mind over and over again.

"you have to give us something more than one night at band camp" Madison pleaded.

" It was nothing" Amy lied.

"ok, by nothing you mean what?" Lauren pushed

"I mean it was… not that great." Amy explained

"and by not that great you mean…?"

"I'm not even sure it was sex, ok guys?" Amy said in a whisper.

The whole night was a blur, and Amy couldn't admit that she didn't say no. She didn't even try to stop him. If Madison and Lauren believed Ricky took advantage of her then that would work in her favor.

"why not? Lauren prodded

"I don't know. I didn't exactly realize what was happening until like after two seconds and then it was just over. And it wasn't fun and definitely not like what you see in the movies, all romantic and stuff. " Amy spat out in a flurry

"maybe it wasn't sex" Lauren said matter of factly "maybe you just had a really bad dream and you just think you had sex?" Lauren was trying to come up with anything to make Amy feel better.

Madison rolled her eyes and said "yea, or maybe it was just a really bad guy that you had really bad sex with. I mean come on…. WHO WAS IT?"

"He doesn't go to this school. It was just some guy at band camp" Amy lied again as she glanced down the hall to see Ricky talking to some blonde. She just couldn't bring herself to tell them that it was Ricky. She didn't want the lecture. Not today.

After being with Ricky at band camp Amy asked around about him. She found out that not only did all the girls want him, but he usually took them up on their offers. She came across girl after girl who had been with him. It made Amy sick to think that she was fooled by his charm. When he told her that this would be the beginning to something big, she believed him.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us" Lauren continued snapping Amy out of her daze.

"yea, why are you telling us now?" Madison chimed in

Amy couldn't say it. She lowered her eyes and felt the tears welling up. She didn't have to say anything. In a silent moment Madison and Lauren knew. Amy felt like running away. She wasn't sure what to do or what to say. Luckily the bell rang and she said that she would talk to them later as she closed her locker.

As she wandered down the hallway Amy realized that Ricky was still standing there with the blonde girl. He was between her and the band room where she had her first class. She hesitated watching him and then quickly tried to dart into the band room without him noticing.

Ricky had always been cool and confident with girls. He was cute, and he knew it, but he had a way about him that made women melt. He went from one to another with ease. As Adrian left he began talking to Grace, a devout Blonde Christian bombshell. Ricky knew that she was dating a football player, but he shamelessly flirted with her. He heard the bell ring and grace ran off to find her first class. Ricky looked up to see Amy standing a few feet away from him nervously shuffling her feet before walking to the band room. He decided that he should just be cool and talk to her.

"oh… hey you" ricky said with a nod "It's Amy, right?" He said cockily as she turned to meet his gaze.

He wanted to judge her reaction; he had tried to talk to her so many times before without success. But she just stood there with this terrified look on her face. "_Jesus, it wasn't that bad was it?" _ Ricky thought to himself.

Amy stood there embarrassed and ashamed. "_He's acting like he doesn't even know who I am?" _She thought as she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I'm just messing with ya kid. You don't think I could forget the night we spent together at band camp do you?" He said brushing her hair behind her ear and then lightly caressing her cheek. He smirked and walked away. Once again leaving Amy hurt and confused.

He really did love the way her skin felt under his touch. But she was so skittish. He liked girls with confidence and sex appeal. "_Amy was nothing. It was just a fling. Now it's over" _He thought, trying to convince himself that he didn't have feelings for her any more. But the more he thought it the more the knot in his stomach grew. _"Ah, I just need sex. I'm going to see Adrian tonight and that will make everything better" _he said to himself.

At lunch Madison went to get pregnancy tests for Amy to take. Madison and Lauren wanted to help her make sure that she was pregnant before she went telling anyone else. After taking 4 tests and all of them coming back positive Amy slumped down onto the toilet and put her head in her hands.

"life stinks" Amy stated angrily

Madison chuckled "that's kind of funny considering we're in the bathroom"

"well, what are we gonna do?" asked Lauren

"we?" Amy scoffed

"Amy, we're in this with you. We're there for you, and anything you want us to do, we'll do it." Lauren said encouragingly

The three girls went back and forth about how Amy should talk to her parents and how she needed to see a doctor. Madison and Lauren were trying to help, but the truth was that Amy just wanted to forget it ever happened. How could she tell her parents? They would be so angry and disappointed in her. She could handle them being angry, but when they were disappointed it tore Amy apart. She had always been good. Never got into trouble or did anything wrong. Now this happens. How could she tell them? Lauren eventually convinced Amy to go to a doctor.

After school was over Amy skipped band practice and went to Dr. Hightower's office. She was put on the waiting list so she was left to wait. The large waiting room was full of mothers and children of all ages. Amy looked around trying to imagine herself with a baby. She hadn't even babysat very much. She didn't know what to do with a baby. _"This can't be happening. I'm only fifteen. There's no way I can be having a baby"_

9:15. why hasn't he called? Adrian was pacing the floor staring at her phone. Ricky said that they would "go out" tonight. But now it was too late. It was a school night and she still had homework to finish. She sighed as she went to her bedroom to put on her pajamas. _"That bastard. No one stands me up"_ she said to herself, trying to boost her self-esteem. She came back to her homework at the dining room table to see her phone lit up. She didn't recognize the number so she answered. It was Jack. _This will show him! _ Adrian thought as she invited jack over.

As the week progressed Ricky was feeling more and more angry. He thought that having sex would make him feel better, but it didn't work. Of course, he felt better during. He had been with three different girls this week and nothing seemed to help. He sat in his car feeling empty and cold. Ricky picked up his phone and dialed Dr. Fields. He was the only person that could help. "Hi, Dr. Fields I need to make an appointment. "

Dr. Fields started with "sooner or later you're going to tell me why these sexual conquests make you feel like a man, because I know you know why you do this and you know it's not going to help. We go down this road every week, and then we hit a brick wall. Having sex with as many women as you can is not going to make you feel any better. And I think it's making you feel worse"

"Aren't I supposed to tell you how I feel" Ricky argued

"You've been coming here enough years to know, I'm not that kind of shrink."

Ricky grabbed the pillow beside him and held it to his chest. He hated when they came to this in their discussions. All of the memories came flooding back. He worked so hard to forget, but somehow Dr. Fields always made him remember. He hated him for that.

"Come on, tell me how you feel" Dr. Fields pushed

"I feel like my fucking father stole my childhood and then dumped me on another family and said you take him. I don't want him. He's damaged goods." Ricky spat. It was the first time he had ever really admitted that.

"I like the way you started out. Although I would love to hear a little more anger in your voice because you have a right to be angry. Because… your father did steal your childhood by sexually abusing you. But he didn't dump you anywhere. The gigantic hand of social services reached down and plucked you out of a deplorable situation and placed you with a family that doesn't see the damage. They just see the potential. And they love you, and I know you love them. But it's the loving yourself that I'm trying to get you to come around to."

Amy tried to tell her parents, but couldn't seem to find the right words. She sat down at the dinner table with them as the phone rang. Ashley came in saying that it was for her. It was some guy. She could barely make out the voice saying that his name was Ben, and that he had talked to her in the hall on the first day of school. She apologized and sincerely didn't remember talking to anyone. Of course, she had been somewhat preoccupied. He asked if she would like to go to the dance with him on Friday after the football game. Amy thought that it might be good to get out of the house so she said yes.

After the game Amy met Ben in the parking lot. She was nervous, but had so much on her mind that she didn't really pay much attention as they drove to the church. Ben seemed awkward and fidgety, but didn't say much on the ride. As they walked in they saw that the room was decorated with streamers and balloons. Amy had her arms folded across her stomach self-conscious of the fact that she was indeed pregnant. After a few awkward moments and several glances Ben grabbed her hand. She didn't fight him and gave him a soft smile. She was watching the door, wondering if he would be there. She hadn't talked to him since the first day of school. She wasn't sure if she should tell him or not. "_no, I need to figure everything out first. Then I'll tell him. Maybe…" _

Ben dismissed himself from Amy for a moment and went to talk to Mr. Molina. A few moments later Madison and Lauren came bounding up to her.

"How's it going?" they said in unison

"What are you guys doing here?" amy asked.

"What do you think we're doing here? We're spying on you" Madison explained.

"So?" Lauren nodded

"So, this was a really stupid idea." Amy sighed

"Why?" Lauren asked

"Because I'M PREGNANT" Amy said much louder than intended.

"shhhh" Madison shushed pulling her to the side. "not in a church…. Gym"

"So, are you going to go out with him again?" Lauren asked with a smile

Amy was not amused and countered with "yea, until he finds out I'm pregnant, or until my parents find out I'm pregnant, and then he'll never wanna take me out again and I'll never be allowed to date again."

Seeming to ignore Amy's previous outburst Lauren continued "so, here's what we were thinking. You date Ben. You get Ben to fall in love with you. Then you have sex with him. Then you tell him that you're pregnant. And then you marry Ben. See problem solved!" They both looked so content with their plan.

"It's possible. I mean, you said he joined the band just to be with you right? So, obviously he already likes you. And, I checked him out. He's an only child and his family has money." Lauren smirked.

"So?" Amy replied

"So? What are your other choices?" Lauren asked.

Amy's attention had drifted to the far side of the room. Ricky was standing by himself and he was staring at her with that gorgeous smile.

"Uh, why are you staring at the drummer?" Lauren asked, concern creeping into her voice

Amy stood there with her mouth open unable to speak.

"The drummers in the band. Anybody who's in the band can go to band camp" Madison answered.

Amy's eyes grew larger.

"Oh no…no! Amy, not him. Please….no." Lauren pleaded

They had found her out, and there was nothing she could say.

Ricky saw that all three girls were obviously talking about him. He smirked and made his way through the crowd to reach Amy.

"Oh no, he saw you staring at him. Now he's coming over here" Amy panicked.

"Good, cuz I'm GONNA KILL HIM!" Madison exclaimed.

"No, please don't say anything" amy pleaded

"Don't you say anything either. Don't tell him. Stick to the plan. Ben's more likely to marry you than he is. And you do not want to have bad sex for the rest of your life" Lauren whispered.

"Hello ladies" Ricky said smoothly.

Madison and Lauren both looked at him in disgust and walked away. Amy crossed her arms over her stomach once more shifting nervously as he spoke.

"What's with them?" He asked. Not really wanting an answer. Amy shrugged as he asked "So, Amy was that your date I saw you with? "

She nodded still finding it hard to speak.

"You like that guy?" he asked.

Amy shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips. She couldn't seem to find any words. Not the words to tell him that she was pregnant. Not the words to tell him how much he hurt her. And definitely not the words to tell him how he made her feel when he was close to her.

"He's not your type." Ricky stated, quickly realizing that this was going nowhere.

He thought he might test her and see if she would be jealous. It was driving him crazy that she didn't seem to care.

He asked "dance with Grace's brother so I can dance with her, huh?

Amy was stunned. "_Did he really just ask me to dance with someone else? I thought he liked me"_ Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes as she looked back at him hurt and confused when a voice came from over her shoulder.

"The only one Amy's dancing with is me." It was Ben, and it was perfect timing.

She smiled at him coming to her rescue. He made her feel safe.

Ricky instantly felt territorial. He wasn't sure why he cared what this skinny kid said, but it made him cringe to think that she would pick Ben over him. "_Why do I care?"_

"oh, I'm surprised you dance. What with your having no sense of rhythm and all." He said angrily "See ya at band practice" he said to Amy in a much calmer tone.

He felt a twinge in his stomach as he walked away. He never had to work this hard for a girl's attention. Especially not after sleeping with them. Was he jealous? Even though he had only been with Amy the one time they had gotten to know each other and he felt a connection with her. It hurt him that she seemed so cold and distant. "_It's not like I was going to date her or anything. Right?" he though, trying to talk himself out of his feelings._

Ben took Amy's hand and led her to the dance floor. Amy felt safe with Ben. There wasn't the heat that she felt when Ricky was near her, but look what that led to. Safe was good. Especially with everything she was going through. Amy laid her head on Ben's shoulder and held her breath trying to keep the tears from streaming down her face. Safe is good.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

_Amy walked through the front door of the apartment. It was sparkling clean and the aroma of lavender filled her nose. She walked into the bedroom to see a baby nestled into the white bassinet. She reached for the infant trying desperately to see its face, she fell just short as two muscular arms wrapped around her. They were touching her everywhere causing goose bumps to form all over her body. She tried to turn her head to see who the arms belonged to, but something was blocking her view. White light filled the room and suddenly she found herself lying on a white bed with crisp linens. She closed her eyes and felt those all too familiar hands on her again. But she couldn't open her eyes. She gave in as he lifted her silky dress above her head revealing her perky breasts. Amy moaned as his tongue brushed her nipple. His tongue trailed down her body until it reached her most precious area. __She shifted and opened her legs wider for him; he started probing his tongue, and it made her gasp. Every time he licked her and touched her clit, she moaned and arched her back. She was really getting into it, she couldn't help herself. _

_"What is that beeping?" she asked._

_"That's just your alarm clock," he said, "You should turn it off."_

_When she sat up she was in her own bed. It was all a dream. Who was the guy? He felt so familiar, and yet she couldn't quite place who it was. The details were fading fast. _

Amy had been avoiding Madison and Lauren for a week. She wanted to forget that she was pregnant, and to forget that she had sex with Ricky this summer. Ben really liked her, maybe even a little too much. They had only been out once but he called her every night. He was sweet, and Amy really liked the attention. It took her mind off of everything else that was going on.

Amy walked into the band room to put up her instrument as Ricky rushed up to help her.

"So, did you hear what happened at the party after the game? Oh, right. You were there. "He said trying to get a rise out of her.

"Yea, I was there. What happened?" she said coldly

"Adrian… you know, the majorette was supposed to meet me there and then I find out she's kissing some cheerleader's boyfriend in front of everyone."

"What cheerleader?"

"Grace"

"Oh, right. That cheerleader. Yea, yea, I heard. You know Grace's Mom is my dad's ex-wife?" Amy said trying to change the subject

"Oh, no kidding. You two don't look anything alike." Ricky said. Amy furrowed her brow. "it was a joke, like I thought you were sisters or something. You're not sisters." He said

"No, we're not related" Amy reassured. "_Why can't he just leave me alone?" She thought_

"Yea, I get that…." He was starting to get frustrated. Why was this so hard? "Anyway, I can't believe that happened. Not that we were in a relationship. We're just friends Adrian and me, but still." Ricky bit his lip and smirked, looking for a sign that Amy felt sorry for him.

But she turned away and whispered "Everything's more complicated than it seems"

"Yea, I guess. But I'm not exactly the kind of guy that gets cheated on. Ya know" he said raising his eyebrows. He couldn't read her.

Amy was infuriated by how cocky he seemed. What made him think that every girl would just fall at his feet if he asked? _"Never again"_ she thought.

"No, I don't know" Amy retorted

Ricky smirked and said "so, do you wanna do something tonight?"

"D-do something?" Amy stuttered backing away from him. She had lost her nerve and once again found butterflies creeping into her stomach.

"Don't get excited, I meant do something like go somewhere and talk" Ricky replied. _"That's more like it."_ He thought.

He wasn't sure why he wanted to see her so badly. He had actually enjoyed getting to know her at band camp. Well, until they had sex of course. But he found himself wanting more. And he never wanted more.

"You and I are friends too, right?" he continued.

Amy composed herself and said "actually I'm seeing someone" she turned to walk out of the band room.

It felt so good to be able to say that. It made her more confident around him. She thought it would show him that she didn't need him because there were other guys out there that wanted her. She didn't want him to know how much she thought about him and that night at camp.

"Who are you seeing?" Ricky asked, following her out of the room, sounding a little more desperate than he intended to. "Is it that little geek who wants to be me? " Ricky was jealous. _"How could she pick that dork over me? She must be joking"_ He thought to himself.

"Come on… why would you do that when you could be out with the real thing?" Ricky said cockily "As a friend of course" he added with a shrug. He didn't mean to be a dick but she was pushing his buttons.

"Of course…" Amy said. She was getting really tired of the man whore act. Or was the guy at band camp an act? She couldn't tell anymore, and he was really starting to get under her skin.

"Thank you for offering Ricky, but I'm really not interested. "

"Whoa, who are you not to be interested in me?" He spat.

Amy rolled her eyes and walked away towards her locker.

"_Ok, that was lame. But damn. We sleep together and then she acts like she doesn't even like me"_ Ricky thought before hearing a voice from behind him.

"Rejected again? Maybe you should consider going for someone more like yourself." Adrian said seductively. Ricky rolled his eyes. "Oh, sooner or later you know you're going to forgive me so come on. Come over tonight and let me apologize to you in person." She teased.

"I can't. I have things to do" Ricky stated.

He found himself wishing that he was far away from her. Usually he would jump all over a girl offering to have sex with him, but he couldn't shake Amy from his mind and it made Adrian's offer seem vulgar and cheap.

"You can't be serious" Adrian said, anger flashing in her eyes "you can't be interested in that child."

Ricky felt a twinge of anger at Adrian's comment. "You know… some girls do it without broadcasting it to the whole school. Some girls are more discreet about their sex life. Some girls have class."

The last comment stung and he knew it.

"And you're referring to that little French horn player who looks like she's twelve and never been kissed? I don't think she has a sex life. She has nothing to be discreet about. And I don't know if she has class. She's just a band geek!" Adrian replied still seeing red.

Ricky smirked and gave her a look that said she was wrong.

"Wait, do you know something? Am I wrong? Is she not just a band geek?" Adrian said with a sly smile.

Ricky turned away from her to head towards Amy's locker. He couldn't let her just walk away from him like that. Even though they were only together once, he knew they had a connection. She was just embarrassed by what happened.

"You can't pretend like this isn't happening" Lauren said

"Yes I can" Amy replied "I mean, it's better than the plan you two came up with"

Amy couldn't bring herself to tell them that she wanted Ricky to be a part of everything. But she was so mad at him that she wasn't even sure she could admit it to herself. It was easier just to pretend like he was a jerk and nothing ever happened.

"Ok, here he comes. Maybe you should just tell him and you guys can tell your parents together." Madison whispered.

"No, don't do that. Don't even think about doing that. Talk to your parents first." Lauren pushed

"Bye girls" Ricky said. "I wanna talk to your friend alone."

Amy felt her heart thumping and her breathing became more erratic. She turned to open her locker but was obviously fumbling with the combination. Her confidence was waning as he moved closer to her.

"You having some sort of memory problem? Can't remember the locker combination? Can't remember what happened just six weeks, a couple of months ago?" Ricky said. It came out harsher than he meant, but he was starting to get angry.

"Nothing happened" Amy said, turning to face him. She was determined not to let herself fall for him again. She had to be strong.

"Ok, it wasn't that great. You were a little nervous and that's understandable. It'll get better. It's ok." He said as softly as he could.

He knew that Amy was a nice girl, and that what he had done was wrong. But he just didn't know how to fix it.

"I told you. I'm seeing someone" she said coldly as she pushed past him.

Ricky stormed off towards the band room. It was lunch time and there would be no one in there. He needed some time to think about things and to vent his frustrations. He just couldn't figure out why he was so worked up about Amy not wanting to be with him again. That had happened plenty of times and he never cared before. Why was she different? Ricky picked up a pair of sticks and sat down behind the drum kit. He started slow with a steady base rhythm gradually increasing the tempo and difficulty. He was getting lost in the music and his mind replayed their week at band camp.

_God was she beautiful. He had been with plenty of hot chicks, but Amy was hot and….And what? He wasn't really sure. Ricky just knew that he wanted to know more about her. And as she talked to him about her family and her friends he found himself mesmerized. Most girls annoyed him when they talked, and it wasn't like Amy had anything more interesting to say, it just sounded different coming out of her mouth. "oh no, could I really like her?" Ricky thought to himself. He wanted to run, but an image flashed into his head. Amy was standing at the sink in a small apartment. It looked like she was washing dishes. Ricky called her name. She turned with a smile and bit her lip. She looked older and even more beautiful than she was now. He began to walk towards her when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. A small boy was running towards her with his arms outstretched. Her smile grew as she picked him up and planted a huge kiss on his forehead. Ricky just wanted her to turn the boy around so he could see his little face. Was that their son? _

Ricky opened his eyes as the bell rang telling him it was time to head back to class. _"what the hell was that?" he thought as he grabbed his books._ "_I'm losing it over this chick"_

After school Amy had marching band practice, and she was exhausted. She headed back towards the band room to put away her instrument and uniform when she heard

"Hey, how are you?"

"Um, I'm fine." Amy replied nervously. She had never talked to this girl, but she recognized her as one of the majorettes in the band.

"You sure?" Adrian replied with narrowed eyes. She could tell something was up with Amy and Ricky and she was determined to find out what it was.

"Yea, I'm sure" Amy stammered.

"I hope you know what you're doing" Adrian said as sympathetically as she could.

"Am I doing something wrong in band practice? Did I get in your way or something?" Amy had tried so hard to do things right, but she was having a hard time getting the hang of marching and playing at the same time. She always felt like she was a half-step off of everyone else.

"No, you didn't get in my way. Look… if you're interested in Ricky I won't go out with him. I'll back off. You know I'm really not into stealing anyone's boyfriend. I wasn't interested in taking Jack away from Grace. He came to me" Adrian was testing to see how she felt.

"I'm n-not not not interested in Ricky" Amy stuttered

"All right. That's not what I heard. You know, I heard that you were interested in him before I was"

"No" Amy replied trying to catch her breath. "_How does she know?" _Amy thought in a panic.

She was relieved when she heard her phone ring. Maybe Adrian would go away then. She looked down and saw that it was Ben. She just couldn't talk to him right now. She had to compose herself.

After changing Amy walked back to her locker and listened to the voicemail Ben left. "NEVER HAPPENED!" Amy yelled drawing the attention of everyone standing in the hallway. In the message Ben asked if she had dated Ricky this summer. "_How does everyone know I was with him? I haven't told anyone!" _

Amy turned in a fury to see Ricky coming down the steps. She rushed over to him grabbing his arm.

"Hey… hey watch it! That's my livelihood" Ricky said before realizing it was Amy pulling him to the side.

"Are you telling people we did something?" Amy screeched

"What? What's going on?" Ricky was confused. "_Where is this coming from?"_ he thought

"Are you?" she pushed

With a raised eyebrow Ricky replied "Something? Am I telling people we did something? No, I'm not. Are you telling people we did something?"

It hit Amy that she had told someone. Two someone's. Madison and Lauren, but they wouldn't tell anyone….right?

"No" Amy said forcefully

"Really? You didn't tell your two girlfriends? And your two girlfriends didn't tell anyone?" Ricky asked.

"_Shit!"_ Amy thought. She realized that it had to have been them.

That evening Amy went home to find several emails and texts from Madison and Lauren. She was so angry she couldn't even think about speaking to them. Now the whole school was going to know that she had sex with Ricky. Suddenly her phone rang and it was Ben. Amy sighed and answered. "_might as well get this over with"_ she thought. Ben asked if she would like to go to a showing of the history of musical instruments. But Amy couldn't get his message from earlier out of her head.

"Where did you hear that? Who told you I had anything to do with that creep?" Amy said forcefully

"What? No one" Ben returned. He regretted ever leaving that message. He knew it was going to be a problem.

"K, someone had to have told you. Is it all around school or something?" she asked much more timid. She wasn't really sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"No, no. Someone had just pointed out to me that this guy nicky…dicky…ricky…was jealous for a reason" ben lied

"a reason like I did something with him?"

Ben winced. Why didn't he listen to Alice? "No, ah. I said dated. Please, please, let's just forget it. I don't care. Whatever it is. I mean, I care about you so whatever you did or didn't do doesn't matter cuz you're Amy Jeurgens. The girl that I love"

"_Love? Did he say love? How can he love me? We only went out on one date!"_ Amy thought

"We had one date." Amy said simply starting to think that Ben might be a bit crazy.

"One date and a thousand phone calls and sure, maybe it's a little early for me to proclaim my love for you but I plead special circumstance" he explained.

Amy smiled. She knew that she didn't love Ben, but it made her feel good to hear him say that he loved her.

"Ok, don't feel obligated to reciprocate. Totally not necessary" Ben continued.

"Uh, ok. I love you too." Amy said. She felt like it was the nice thing to do to say it back. Even if she wasn't sure how she felt about Ben.

Ricky ended up at Adrian's. He hadn't planned it that way, but he needed to be with someone tonight. He wasn't used to being rejected and he couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. Ricky's name flashed. She debated for a second whether she should even answer.

"What?" she said coldly

"Oh, come on. I couldn't get out of the house. My foster mom made dinner and then I had to help her clean up and get the other kids to bed. Don't be mad. I can come over now if you want me to."

"What for? I have homework and it's too late for us to go out and do something" Adrian replied angrily.

"Well, we don't have to go out. Ricky said in his most seductive tone.

Adrian couldn't resist. She found herself really wanting to be around him. Not just wanting to sleep with him. "Fine" she said hanging up the phone. She ran back into her bedroom to put on a lacy black bra and thong duo under her robe.

10 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Adrian undid the tie around her waist and answered the door.

Ricky stood there with a seductive smile on his face. Without saying a word Adrian pulled him inside and pressed his lips to hers. Ricky felt like he was finally getting what he had been waiting for. Adrian jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. She kissed him deeply as he pushed her down onto the couch. They were tearing at each other's clothes until they were both naked. Ricky reached down and pulled the condom from his pants pocket and slipped it on. Without hesitation Ricky plunged his cock into her. Adrian dug her nails into his shoulder as he pumped harder and harder. Adrian tried to kiss him but Ricky looked away and closed his eyes before she could make contact. She tried again and Ricky swiftly flipped her over so that he was entering her from behind. He grabbed a hand full of her hair and pushed himself back into her forcefully. She was bucking against him wildly and he could feel his balls starting to tighten. A few more thrusts and he exploded. They sank down onto the couch. Before Adrian could catch her breath Ricky was up and putting his clothes back on. He kissed her quickly and walked out the door.

Sex with Adrian was great. She was confident with her body and would let him do just about anything. She even liked it when he was rough. Most girls would freak if he got too rough with them, but Adrian fed off of it.

They had been together several times over the last few weeks, but every time she seemed to get more and more clingy. She wanted him to stay, and he just wanted to go home. He hated after sex talk. Why couldn't sex just be sex? Ricky lied and told Adrian that his foster parents would be waiting for him to get home. That always worked. Chicks always felt sorry for him when he brought up the fact that he was in a foster home. Before leaving Adrian asked him to call her when he got home so they could talk all night. "Of course I'll call you" he lied. _"Why did I say that? I'm not going to call her. What could we possibly talk about?"_ He thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was becoming increasingly difficult for Amy to hide the fact that she was pregnant. Her clothes were shrinking by the minute and it was obvious that no believed her when she rushed to the bathroom saying she had a stomach bug. Her feet were swelling and she could feel her boobs growing larger. She knew that she had to tell her parents, but how? Amy knew that her Mom and Dad were going to completely flip out. She had never done anything wrong so she wasn't sure how she muster up the strength to tell them. On several occasions she had tried to tell her Mom while they were alone, but the words always caught in her throat.

Ben had been planning their date all week. She had agreed to go out Saturday night and he was determined that this would be the night that he kissed her. Ben decided on the county fair and set to work with Alice to come up with a plan. He was too nervous to just see how it goes. He had to go into the evening with a game plan.

Ricky's phone beeped signaling that he had a text message. _Candy: Thanks for last night. _ He read; a smile spreading across his face.

"I wasn't asking you sweetie, I was telling you. I'm gonna pick her up after the game. I'll take her to meet Jack, I'll come over to your house. And then I'll go pick her up and take her home." Ricky said with a smile. He didn't really care what Adrian said about it. They had been together at least 5 times in the last two weeks and he knew that she would come whenever he called, whether she was mad at him or not.

He had offered to pretend to date Grace so that she could see Jack. Ricky wasn't really sure why he did that. He was intrigued by Grace. She was completely different from any other girl he had known. She had such strong morals and she seemed to really have it together. And he even admired her resolve not to have sex until marriage. "Maybe she could make me a better person." He thought to himself. Ever since the end of summer Ricky had been searching for a way to be a better person; to be someone that would be worthy of Amy Jeurgens. He had been failing miserably until now. Maybe if Amy saw him with Grace she would realize that he's not such a bad guy after all.

Saturday evening finally came. Date night. Ricky left his house to pick up Grace. He dropped her off at the fair with Jack and left to meet up with Adrian. He dialed her number. Adrian had been anxious for the call. She answered on the first ring.

"Are you coming over?" she asked nervously. She was terrified that he had changed his mind.

"Yea, I just dropped Grace off. Be there in 10." He said casually

Adrian answered the door quickly. Ricky sauntered in and turned to give her a quick kiss. He hated that look in her eye, like she owned him or something. The first week they were together was great. He came over, they had sex, he left, and he didn't have to feel guilty about it. But this week she had been pressuring him to stay with her afterwards, and that made him feel guilty. He wanted to want to stay with her, but he just didn't.

Adrian threw her arms around his neck. She wasn't going to waste any time. She could tell that he was thinking, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She pushed him to a seated position on one of the bar stools, and began to pull at his shirt. He raised his arms to help and she pressed her lips to his. She traced the outline of his muscular chest reaching farther and farther down until she reached the top of his jeans. Skillfully she undid the button and zipper and pulled them to his ankles along with his boxers. Before he could mutter a word her mouth was on him. He was just starting to get hard, but with every stroke she felt him growing inside her mouth. She looked up to see that he was leaned back against the counter for support with his eyes closed. Adrian continued to work him feverishly until she heard Ricky moan and felt the first spurt into the back of her throat. She knew that he would last much longer the second time having cum once already and she wanted him to stay as long as possible.

Without saying a word Ricky hiked up her skirt and pushed her down onto the cold counter top. He slipped a condom on quickly before ramming into her. He heard her shriek with pleasure as he filled her. He reached up, grabbing a handful of her hair, as his thrusts became deeper and more frantic. "Maybe I could care for her" he thought. He felt his balls tighten as he came yet again. He slumped over her for a moment before sliding out of her and pulling off the condom.

Adrian went to her bedroom to put on her robe. She came back out to find that he was already dressed and putting his shoes back on.

"You want something to eat?" she asked. Desperate to find something that would make him stay.

"No thanks" he replied obviously in a hurry to get out of there. "You can come with me if you want." He said. He was trying to make an effort to really care about her.

"to pick up Grace? No thanks."

"All right. Your choice." He said. He was relieved that he was off the hook.

"Call me after you drop her off." She pouted

He kissed her and said "I'll try"

"You'll try?" with anger creeping into her voice.

He rolled his eyes and replied "mmm, I'm not a phone guy, ok?"

"Ok, so then drop her off and come back over here." Adrian pushed

"I can't do that" Ricky replied quickly

"you could if you wanted to…" she pleaded

"No, I couldn't" he said firmly before kissing her one last time and turning to leave. "That was great. I had a really good time" he was trying to lighten the mood.

"we could have a good time all night long" she said in a last ditch effort to make him stay.

He sighed and said "I can't sleep over."

Adrian opened the door before saying "bye, go pick up your girlfriend" She closed the door and slumped down to the floor. He made her feel cheap. She was always so confident when it came to sex because she was the one making the decisions. Now Ricky said when and where and for how long.

Ben picked Amy up to head to the fair. They had talked so many times on the phone, but sitting face to face in the car with Ben's Dad made Amy a nervous wreck. When they got there Ben took her hand and told his Dad that they would catch up with him later.

"you hungry?" Ben asked, already knowing the answer. She was always hungry. He loved that she loved to eat.

"uh, yea. I could eat something." Amy replied

They went from stall to stall as Amy tried almost everything there was to try. Ben stood in amazement as she finished off a funnel cake before asking

"Do you wanna ride the carousel?"

"yea, that sounds good." Amy replied. She felt great for the first time in weeks. She grabbed her shake and they headed towards the line. Ben's plan was ruined when he saw that all of the bench seats were taken. So he led her to the nearest horse and decided to try again. As the ride slowed he grabbed Amy's hand and said

"let's ride again."

Amy was starting to feel a bit queasy but didn't want to ruin the evening so she nodded.

"riding this a second time was not such a good idea" she mumbled. She could feel the bile creeping up the back of her throat. She took several deep breaths trying to suppress the urge to expel the contents of her stomach.

"no, no, no this is great. I love the benches. Anyone can just sit on the horses." He stammered. This was it; his chance to make a move. He leaned in to kiss her as she threw herself forward vomiting onto her lap.

Amy returned home to find all of the lights off. She crept in and started to tiptoe to her bedroom when she heard

"how was it?" It was her sister Ashley.

"you scared me!" Amy said softly

"what's that smell?" Amy said scrunching up her nose

"got sick on the carousel" amy confessed

"what did you eat?"

"everything." Amy said matter of factly.

"you rode home in the car with Ben and the sausage king like that?" Ashley replied

"I had to. I mean I went to the bathroom and washed up and chewed a piece of gum, but there was only so much I could do, ya know? What? I couldn't help it."

Amy turned to go to her room as Ashley said "wait. I stayed up because I wanted to ask you something. You're not….you're not like pregnant or anything are you?"

"wh-wh-why would you say something like that?" Amy stuttered.

"Amy, you're acting really weird lately and you're stuttering again so I know you're trying to cover something up. You're lying. You're lying all the time. And you're hungry all the time, you eat everything in sight and you've gained weight, and you have boobs. You got sick? I mean, you love the carousel. So?"

Tears began to fill Amy's eyes.

"I wont tell them if you are. I wont tell anyone I promise. You're gonna need me if you are. You know they're gonna kill you and you're gonna need a friend." Ashley continued on the brink of tears.

"I have friends Ashley" Amy replied.

"not in this house. Not if you're having a baby. Just tell me. Are you? Are you having a baby?" Ashley said the last word so low you could barely make it out.

All Amy could do was nod. Amazingly she felt relief that someone in her family finally knew. "yea" she whispered. "Don't tell anyone, ok? I'll tell them when I need to."

The sisters glanced back and forth at each other and they both knew that they had to stick together. Amy turned and headed to her room and Ashley plopped back down on the couch to cry. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door.

"oh my god. I think it's Ben." Amy said as she walked to the door in her robe.

"hi" he said as he stepped inside. "I know it's kinda late, but you forgot something." He handed her the jacket that she was wearing when she threw up. "Hi" Ben said again, this time to Ashley on the couch.

"Bye" she replied quickly and got up to go to her room.

"There you go" Ben said handing the jacket back to her.

"thank you, you probably should have thrown that away" Amy blushed. She was so embarrassed.

"I uh rinsed it off. I think it's ok. And I uh brought you some ginger ale. Ginger settles the stomach my Dad says."

Amy couldn't help but smile. Ben was so thoughtful and sweet. Maybe she could fall in love with him.

"Thank you" Amy replied

"And I forgot something" Ben said. His mouth had suddenly gone dry and he was praying that Amy wouldn't pull away, but he had to do it. "I forgot to do this" He leaned in to kiss her.

It was sweet and innocent. Nothing like the kisses that Amy had shared with Ricky. Ricky ignited something inside of her, but Ben felt warm and inviting. He was so kind to her, and he was trying so hard.

"Good night Amy"

"Good night Ben. Again, I'm so sorry for everything." She said apologetically

"I'm not." Ben replied quickly

"I'm not sorry that you kissed me." She said, and really meant.

Ben gazed into her eyes before replying "I love you"

"me too" was all she could say. Amy wasn't sure what love was, and she didn't want to force it.

"does he know?" Ashley asked

"no" Amy said as her sister wrapped her in a hug. They fought so much that Amy had realized for the first time in a long time that she wasn't alone in this house. She knew that she could count on Ashley.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took so long guys. I was having trouble uploading the new chapter. I've been trying for a couple weeks with no luck, but it finally let me tonight. So here you go. Please keep reviewing and let me know how you like it! This is my first fan fiction so it's nice to see so many great comments. Thanks! -Ash**

_Ricky found himself walking along the beach as the sun set. The sand was warm beneath his toes. He felt lost and alone and he had been walking for hours. He heard a voice in the distance. As he got closer he realized it was her. "Amy?" he said unsure of himself. She turned to him and smiled. She was wearing a long flowing sun dress and her hair glistened in the sun light. She turned and walked away. Ricky called to her but she wouldn't stop. He tried to run after her but no matter how fast he ran he couldn't seem to catch up. She vanished..._

Ricky was nudged awake. It took him a minute to realize where he was; Adrian's condo.

"Ricky, are you still picking me up?" he heard grace ask

He had fallen asleep when he was supposed to be picking Grace up from her date with Jack. "_shit!"_ He thought.

"Yea, I'll be right there" he said quickly jumping out of bed.

"Ok, could you hurry? I'm here by myself." Grace continued

"Where's Jack?" Ricky said feeling very guilty for leaving the cheerleader stranded.

"He had curfew. It's a school night. He had to leave" Grace said anxiously

"Yea, don't panic. I'm on the way" Ricky replied hanging up the phone. "Give me my shirt, I've gotta go. I told you not to let me go to sleep!" he snapped at Adrian

Adrian was well aware of the fact that Ricky had fallen asleep, and that he was late picking Grace up, and she loved it. She had finally gotten him to stay with her after they had sex. "It's my fault you fell asleep?" she said trying to sound innocent. "Can't she just get a taxi or something or just grow up and tell her parents that she's dating Jack whether they like it or not?"

"Adrian come on, I gotta go." Ricky said. She was really starting to frustrate him. He couldn't stand how cold she was to other people.

She started to give it to him, but midway through taking the shirt off she changed her mind. She was determined not to let him leave her for Grace. Having had enough Ricky stormed out.

A few moments later he arrived at the bank to find Grace holding a broken beer bottle fending off some guys. Ricky leapt out of the car as they sped away. Grace rushed to him and he pulled her into a hug. Ricky felt bad for putting her in that situation, but he wasn't sad that he was able to come to the rescue. Maybe this could get him on Grace's good side. There was definitely something in her that made him want to be a better person. _"Maybe she could make me a better person" Ricky thought_

Everyone had been going on about the incident with Grace last night and Amy had reached her breaking point. She walked into the school with Ben. Amy was looking for Madison and Lauren so that she could talk to them about Ashley. Ashley had been trying to distract their parents from what was going on with Amy, but now it was turning into a big deal and she was afraid that Ashley was going to get in trouble.

Ben went on and on about Grace and didn't even seem to notice that Amy wasn't listening. She told him she had to go find Madison and Lauren, but he kept pushing to know what she needed to talk to them about. Amy snapped and walked away. She couldn't handle how clingy he had become. Amy just needed some space right now to think. She had been ignoring the pregnancy, but she was starting to realize that she was going to have to make some decisions soon. Amy had thought about telling Ricky; that way she wouldn't be alone and he could help her figure out what to do, but she couldn't stand to look at him right now. He had been with her, and Adrian, and now Grace all within a couple of months. Amy couldn't believe she fell for him. _"No, I just need to keep away from him" Amy assured herself._

Ricky had made up his mind that he wanted Grace. He knew that she would be hard to get, but that's what made it so much fun. It would be a challenge. Sleeping with Adrian was becoming too much work. Sure, the sex was great, but she was needy and possessive and Ricky had no intentions of being possessed by her. And besides, being around Grace made him stop thinking about how confused he was by Amy. He wanted to find someone that gave him the same feeling he had at band camp. Grace was innocent like Amy, but she was a little transparent. Ricky could play her like a fiddle and he knew it. Grace could make him a better person, and maybe… just maybe Amy would be jealous.

Amy was having major doubts about Ben. She had known deep down from the start that she wasn't in love with him, but he was willing to take care of her and that's what she needed right now, she needed some security. She had no idea how she was going to take care of a baby at 15, but Ben had money and that meant that her baby would never want for anything, and he was sweet. But she needed a little space. He hadn't stopped calling or texting her all day. Every message was the same. _I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. Let's get something to eat after the game. Love Ben _ "_Love? How could he even know that he loves me? We've only known each other a couple of months." Amy thought. _

After the game Amy walked through the school headed for the parking lot when Ben approached her. She just couldn't get away. He turned to her when she saw her Dad approaching. _Great!_ She thought; _We can just go home so I can go to bed. _ Amy was exhausted. In a flash Amy was standing with Ben in the hallway as her Dad walked away.

"You could have asked me if I wanted to get something to eat" Amy said bitterly.

"you always want something to eat. You're always hungry. You don't want to eat?" Ben asked.

Amy just stared at him. She was so frustrated with Ben right now. Like she didn't have enough to worry about. _Why did he always have to act like he owned everything. He always assumes that he knows what I want. Amy thought. _

"I tried to ask you." Ben pleaded. He was in new territory here and wasn't sure how to continue.

"when?" Amy asked

"I called your cell, I called your house phone, I left a note in your locker, I emailed you, I sent you a text." Ben rambled

"ok Ben, nobody emails anymore and I didn't get your text." Amy lied

"yea you did" he replied. He felt helpless. He knew that he had screwed up, but Amy wasn't making it very easy for him to apologize.

"I didn't read it" Amy confessed. To be honest she had been so distracted during the game that she ignored Ben's messages.

Everyone was in the band room putting on their uniforms for the game. Amy was talking to a friend when she noticed Ricky on the other side of the room. He was staring at her. She could feel her cheeks flush, but refused to look him in the eye. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and realized that he was walking her way. Amy said bye to her friend and quickly started to walk towards the door when she felt his hand on her arm.

"Hey Amy" He said softly, testing the waters to see how she would respond.

"Hi" she replies coldly without turning to face him. She could feel the heat rising as she turned to tell him to leave her alone, but everything went black. She collapsed into Ricky's arms.

"Amy…Amy….. wake up. Are you ok? AMY!" He yelled while patting her face gently. Ricky could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. He knew that this had happened before and it made him afraid that there was something really wrong. He looked around at the crowd that was gathering. "Someone get her some water!"

Amy was starting to come to. Ricky held the cup of cold water up for her to get a drink. She started to say thank you and smile when she realized that she was still lying in his arms. She practically jumped up, knocking him back on his heels.

"I'm fine. Sorry, just tired." She stammered as she ran towards the bathroom. She couldn't believe that she has passed out again, and on top of that HE had caught her.

Amy stared at herself in the mirror for a moment before splashing some cold water on her face. _You have got to get it together. _She thought before heading out to join the rest of the band.

Everyone was lined up already to march into the stadium. Amy took her place in line and fell into step with the rest of the group. For each home game they would march into the crowded stadium to the drum cadence. It was one of Amy's favorite parts of playing at the football games. The crowd always got really into it and it would draw attention to the band. However, this meant that Amy would have to march by Ricky. She was so nervous. Once again she could feel his eyes boring a hole right through her. She glanced his way and saw the concern written all over his face. Amy tried to smile but started to feel light headed again so she turned back towards the person in front of her. Her heart was pounding in her ears and it stopped briefly as she realized that she had ended up right in front of where Ricky usually sat. _Oh no. What am I going to say? She panicked._

The drum line entered after everyone else and sure enough Ricky ended up right behind her. He smiled when he thought about talking to her. He just wanted to make sure that she was ok. Ricky surprised himself again at how concerned he felt when she passed out in his arms. All of these feelings were new to him, and he wasn't sure he liked it. He approached his seat and set down his snare drum.

"Amy…" he started

This time she turned to look him in the eye. Ricky wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a tear in her eye before she said "listen Ricky, I really don't want to talk to you. Ok?" and turned back around.

Ricky was speechless. He decided right then and there that he was done. The more he thought about it the more he resolved himself to the fact that she wasn't the girl he thought she was this summer at band camp.

"It said the same thing as all the other message. I'm sorry; I'm an idiot as usual. Let's get something to eat after the game and I love you." Ben replied trying not to show how hurt he was.

"you know, sometimes I just need to talk to my friend… my girlfriends" Amy continued. She really had reached a breaking point and wasn't sure if she could take any more.

"I know that, I said I was sorry" Ben said calmly. He could feel that she was agitated and wanted to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible. He extended his hand to her and waited while she thought about what she wanted to do.

Amy took his hand reluctantly and they headed towards the double doors. Ben started to tell Amy about Henry and Alice's plan to take things to the next level because they got into a big fight. Amy couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Does he really think we're ready to do THAT just because we got in an argument? I don't know if I'll ever be ready to do that again._ Amy thought to herself.

"so?" Amy said crossing her arms across her chest.

"so nothing" ben replied

"I hope you don't think that we're ready to you know… take that next step just because you and I got in a fight." Amy said shakily.

"no…" ben said shaking his head.

"ok, well why would you tell me that? " Amy asked.

"because you're the person I tell all my secrets to. You're the woman I love" ben replied

That was it. Amy couldn't take any more as she came back with "you do not"

"I do too!" Ben retorted; both hurt and confused. "come on, let's go." He demanded

Amy rolled her eyes and looked at him disgusted.

"Please…" he begged.

Out of exhaustion Amy gave in. She was tired of fighting and just wanted to go home and climb into bed.

They rode to the dairy shack in silence. Amy really wanted to forget the events of the evening. _Ricky…_ she thought. _He's never going to care about me the way that Ben does. _ Amy resigned herself to try harder with ben. She realized that she hadn't really been giving him a fair chance. She was so wrapped up in what she was going through that she was being a complete brat to him.

The next morning Amy woke with a pit of guilt in her stomach. She had to tell her parents. She just couldn't let Ashley take the fall any longer. She tried desperately to tell her Dad before Anne and Ashley walked in. Her parents had been skirting around a fight for weeks, but now it was coming to a head. Amy wanted desperately to get out of the house, so when Ben asked to take her out for a picnic on Sunday she jumped at the chance.

Amy woke up the next day in a fantastic mood. She hadn't felt this great since the summer. As she got ready for her study date with Ben she had the feeling that it was going to be a wonderful day. Ben picked her up around 11:45 and they headed to the park. He had an enormous basket full to the brim of all kinds of goodies in tow. They found a bench and Ben began to unpack, but before he could get everything laid out Amy began to scarf down a plate full of wings. For a moment he sat there and stared at her. Amy sensed that something was wrong.

"I love you Amy Jeurgens" Ben stated

"Thanks… me too" Amy replied. She still felt weird about saying I Love You to Ben. She wasn't sure how she felt about him most of the time and she didn't want to fake it. On days like this she could really see herself with Ben. She could picture them together when they were older and married with children.

"Can I ask you something?" Ben

"uh, yea, I guess" Amy replied

Ben bent down on one knee and retrieved a ring box from him pocket. Amy started to feel faint as Ben asked "will you marry me?"


	6. Chapter 6

Ben bent down on one knee and retrieved a ring box from him pocket. Amy started to feel faint as Ben asked "will you marry me?"

Her heart dropped. How could he possibly know that she was pregnant? She knew that could be the only possible reason for him asking her such a crazy question. Then it hit her. Ben must feel so ashamed. His girlfriend is pregnant by another guy.

Tears flooded her eyes as she asked "you know?"

"I know that I love you" Ben replied

"You know about me?" Amy squeaked. Her mind was racing. She hadn't planned on telling him yet, and now that he knew she wasn't sure she could deal with it. She hadn't even told Ricky yet and he was the father. Suddenly she felt guilty for keeping it a secret from him.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I know that I love you and I want to marry you" he stated. Ben had made up his mind that he was going to marry Amy and claim her baby for his own. He would take care of her no matter what.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" Amy sobbed. She had been ignoring her pregnancy for so long that she wasn't sure how she felt about things, but all of her suppressed emotions were bubbling up and she couldn't help but face them.

"Who told you?" she asked directly.

"My Dad" ben confessed.

"Your dad knows?" Amy said as she broke down again. She couldn't bear to think of what Ben's dad must think about her.

"He suspected" ben said trying his best to comfort her.

"I'm so embarrassed"

"It's ok" ben replied

"No, it's not ok. It's definitely not ok" Amy felt like all of her problems had just smacked her in the face. But… Ben had just offered to marry her. That could fix everything. They could get married and have a nanny take care of the baby while she was in school. It could work. But what about Ricky? Suddenly Amy felt guilty for even thinking about having his baby without telling him. Could she do that? Should she do that?

Grace had invited Ricky to go to church with her. He thought this might be a good chance to show her parents that he wasn't such a bad guy. Grace's fervor for religion was a bit exhausting, but Ricky liked how sure she was about who she was. Ricky had never really felt like he knew who he was, but Grace made him want to be a person that was worthy of being with her. He knew where he came from, and all of the dark things that had happened to him, but he wasn't sure where that left him. Maybe he would end up just like his father; a drug addict child molester. Even after all of the years of therapy Ricky still couldn't bring himself to believe that he could be something different. That he deserved something different. So, why fight it? It was in his genes, right?

Ricky snapped out of his dark thoughts as he pulled into the church parking lot. He took a deep breath and climbed out of the car. Before he reached the church steps he saw Adrian with Jack's arm wrapped around her shoulder. Ricky chuckled. He loved that she tried so hard to make him jealous, but he just wasn't. He eyed her with a smirk as he thought _damn she looks hot. _ Ricky knew that he could have Adrian any time he wanted whether she was with Jack or not so he did his best to ignore her and moved towards Grace.

The ride home from the park was silent and Amy was lost in her thoughts. She had to tell her mom. It would be best to do it while her Dad was on his trip. _Less drama_ Amy thought. Her mother would help her figure everything out, and she needed some help. Things were becoming more complicated by the second. Amy returned home to find Ashley in the kitchen sulking as usual.

"Ben asked me to marry him" Amy told Ashley

"you're fifteen" Ashley replied coldly. She had no tolerance for Amy's weakness. She couldn't believe that Amy was actually thinking of marrying Ben while she was having someone else's baby. It all sounded too ridiculous to even say out loud. Ashley felt like she was trapped in some alternate soap opera universe where the whole world had gone crazy.

"And I'm having a baby" Amy started to reply but was met with Ashley's hand over her mouth.

"shh, mom might hear you" Ashley whispered. No matter what Ashley loved her sister; even if she never told her that. And she wanted all of this to work out for her. She replied with a much calmer tone. "So you told him?"

"He knows, and pretty soon everyone's going to know. So, I might as well get it over with and tell mom while dad's gone" Amy replied

"You know he's gone?" Ashley asked surprised.

"Yea, he's gone to like Vegas or something for a few days" Amy said

"No, Amy. God, how can you be so… I don't know what's the word… clueless? He left her. He left us. He's cheating. He left her for someone else." Ashley said trying to make Amy see what the situation really was. She couldn't help but let her anger rise. He sister really was dense sometimes.

"Dad?" Amy was shocked. She couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"Dad's having an affair" Ashley confirmed.

Amy chuckled. She wasn't sure why she was laughing. She just thought that it was amazing that anyone would sleep with her Dad if they didn't have to.

"I know it's not funny, I must just be losing it." She said as tears once again filled her eyes. Ashley pulled her sister into hug. She couldn't find words to tell Amy how sorry she was that this happened. She wished that she could take it all away.

"I don't think I can have this baby" Amy whispered.

_Ricky and Grace were standing in an empty church. He leaned in to kiss her and she didn't pull away. She seemed to have lost the innocent Christian side and was embracing her inner woman. She reached up and pulled his coat from his shoulders letting it fall to the ground. Ricky began to unbutton her blouse exposing her lacy bra. Grace un-tucked his shirt and started to play with the zipper on his pants. _ Ricky was jolted out of his daydream by Grace's voice.

"Ricky? The sermon's over. You can come over for lunch if you like!"

It took him a moment to compose himself before he responded that he would love to. Grace's parents weren't even at church so he wanted to make sure that they knew he was there. If there was one thing he knew it was this. If he wanted a chance with Grace he would have to get her parents on his side.

Amy had made a decision. She had to have an abortion. The thought made her sick to her stomach, but she just couldn't have a baby at 15. There was no way that it could work. If she had the baby she would have to tell Ricky, and he had barely said two words to her in weeks. She was so angry with him. It was all his fault. This was all his fault, at least that's what she kept telling herself. He should have known better. He had sex before, she hadn't. She didn't know what was going on. Amy felt like an idiot.

The next day at school she met Ben at her locker like always. He was adamant that she marry him and tell everyone that it was his baby. But deep down Amy didn't want that. No matter how nice it sounded. She wanted to tell Ricky. She wanted Ricky to confess that he was in love with her and that he was happy she was pregnant with his baby. Then he could ask her to marry him and they could be a family. But, Amy knew that would never happen. She had to get rid of this baby before she lost her nerve.

"Ben, I have to…" she said "I have no choice"

"You do have a choice. I am giving you a choice!" Ben replied, obviously agitated.

"What? Your dad will let you get married?" Amy asked. She was tired of playing this game. She knew her parents would never let her get married. And she wasn't going to have this baby, so it wouldn't matter soon.

"I don't see why not" Ben replied

"Because you're fifteen and I'm pregnant by some other guy." Amy said harshly. She knew that it probably hurt Ben, but she had to get through to him. She couldn't ignore that Ricky was the father of her baby. Neither of them could.

"I love you, he knows that." Ben said sweetly

"Even if your dad did let you marry me it wouldn't solve anything because my parents are never going to let me get married. They're probably going to send me off to some home where the baby gets adopted and they tell all their friends that I have a disease and I'm there for treatment or something" Amy rambled.

"no one is sending you to any home but mine" Ben stated

Amy really couldn't stand how possessive he was. At first it was cute, but it was starting to get under her skin. They had been dating for about a month and he was offering to marry her and for her to move in with him. He wanted everyone to think that it was his baby. That somehow that would make it better. Amy still didn't want to have a baby, whether it was Ricky's or Ben's.

Amy went through her first two classes like a zombie. She just wasn't sure if she could handle it. She was on the verge of a breakdown. She couldn't get something ben had said earlier out of her head. He told her that Madison and Lauren were the ones telling everyone that she had sex with Ricky and that she was pregnant. She just couldn't believe it. She met her long time best friends at her locker between classes.

"Did you guys tell anyone what's going on with me?" Amy asked pointedly

"No" they replied in unison

"Are you sure?" Amy pushed

"Amy, you're gaining weight…" Lauren started

"And?" she snapped

"If people think you're pregnant that's not our fault." Lauren finished.

"If they think that. We don't even know if they think that" Madison affirmed.

"Wait, is that what people are saying?"

"Yes" Lauren stated.

"Maybe you should just go home" Madison said, trying to offer a temporary solution to the rumors.

"Maybe I should just go home. Stay home. I mean that's what would happen if I left right now in the middle of the day I don't think I could ever come back. But, you know if I stay and nothing ever happens then maybe people will just think it was a rumor and that it wasn't true or anything." Amy rambled. Her nerve was waning and she wasn't sure if she could keep this whole charade up. How could she be pregnant in high school and face people every day. But then she thought about having an abortion. How could she face people if they found out what she had done to her baby? She couldn't bear it.

"Are you talking about what I think you're talking about? Because I'm catholic." Madison exclaimed

"Yea well, she's not." Lauren said. She was always the voice of reason.

"Help me?" Amy asked desperately. Tears were filling her eyes again.

"I can't help you; I don't know anything about it." Lauren said

"How?" asked Madison

"I don't know where to go to get "it" done" Amy muttered. "I need help"

"Tell your mother…today!" Lauren said firmly

"That's how you're going to help me? Tell me to tell my mother? You guys I can't. My Dad left us last night" Amy said as she walked away wiping the tears from her face. She just couldn't bring herself to hurt her Mom any more than she was hurting now. She knew that she would be disappointed in her.

Amy couldn't take any more today. At lunch she walked out of school not sure if she would ever return. She couldn't face the rumor mill any longer.

Ricky was walking to the band room for practice when he overheard two freshmen talking about Amy. His ears perked and he listened closer.

"Oh my god, Amy Jeurgens is pregnant?" The girl exclaimed.

"Who's the father?" the guy asked

"Her boyfriend, Ben I guess" the girl responded

"I heard that she and Ricky hooked up this summer at Band Camp. It has to be his baby. She's already starting to show." The guy scoffed.

Ricky was in shock. Amy's pregnant? She couldn't be, he always wore protection. He then started thinking back to that night. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He hadn't worn a condom. He remembered that he hadn't intended on sleeping with Amy that night so he didn't have one on hand and he just assumed that since she didn't stop him that she was on the pill or something. _OH GOD! _ Ricky thought as he walked into the band room. His knees felt like jelly. He searched for her face, but her seat was empty. _It's true_. He thought. She isn't here.

As soon as practice was over Ricky took off towards his car. He had to talk to Dr. Fields and fast. How could he be so stupid? He never made mistakes like that. He was always so careful. Before he knew it he was in front of the office building. He ran up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Yea" replied Dr. Fields

Ricky opened the door and just stood there in front of him. Dr Fields was one of the only men in his life that he honestly trusted and he wasn't sure how he could tell him this.

"Well, look who's here, just minutes before my next appointment" Dr. Fields said sarcastically. He was frustrated because Ricky had been skipping appointments lately. He knew that the only way Ricky would make any real progress is if they could meet regularly and he just wasn't holding up his end of the bargain. But he could tell that something was wrong so he quickly changed his tone.

"You should have called Ricky. I want to talk to you but… what's going on?" he asked

"I'll come back" Ricky said quickly

"Good, good, yea you come back. But, before you go… what's going on?" He pushed

"I um…. I heard this rumor that I got a girl pregnant"

"Is there any truth to that rumor?" dr. fields asked

"Maybe…" Ricky confessed. He was still coming to terms with this news himself. "Sit down; I'll cancel the next appointment" Dr. Fields said softly. He knew that Ricky had messed up big this time and that he would need him to help him through this.

Ricky sat down in his usual spot on the couch and buried his head in his hands. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_ he thought. All of his dreams came flooding back to him. Was the child he saw his? His and Amy's? Ricky couldn't believe that this was happening to him. He had always been so careful. In the past 2 years he had been with more girls than he could remember and not once had he not used a condom. As careless as he was about the girls he was sleeping with he had always been overly protective about STD's and things of that nature, so even if the girl was on the pill he made sure to wear a condom. But, somehow he had let himself slip with Amy. It just wasn't like him. Everything about his relationship with Amy wasn't like him. He actually talked to her and got to know her before they had sex. He felt guilty for sleeping with her when she wasn't ready. And he found himself thinking about her all the time. When she would pass him in the hall his heart would skip a beat. What could it mean? All of these new feelings were too much for Ricky to handle on top of just finding out that he might be a father soon. He was going to hyperventilate.

Despite everything that Ben had offered; Amy could not have this baby and claim that it was Ben's. She didn't want to be that kind of person. No matter how Ricky had treated her, she just couldn't do that to him. Deep down she knew that there was more to him than what he let people see. Although at the moment she was so mad at him that she refused to let herself feel anything but anger towards him. Ricky had made her feel used and dirty. Not something that she ever thought she would feel, especially at the age of fifteen.

Amy had to find a way to tell her mother. She just wasn't sure how. Ben called her over and over again, and Amy felt bad for not answering, but she couldn't hear any more today. She had to think everything through before she moved forward. It had to be her decision.


	7. Chapter 7

**I am so sorry that it has taken so long to update. Finally figured out what was wrong with the uploader to post this chapter. I am taking suggestions and adding more to the story that we don't see instead of just the script. Please review and let me know how I am doing. I love writing; just wish I had more time to do so. Thanks!- ash**

_Amy opened her eyes slowly. The room was flooded with light and she had to squint to see anything at all. It was a hospital room; that much she could tell. The whole atmosphere was cold and sterile. Most of the time hospitals gave her the creeps, but she felt strangely calm and complacent. She wandered out into the empty hallway. "Where is everyone?" She thought. As she continued down the corridor she heard a baby crying. Her heart skipped as she picked up her pace going towards the sound. She slowly opened a door and heard a familiar voice "shhh, it's ok. Daddy's here. I love you" The room flooded with light before Amy could see his face… _

Amy sat straight up in bed; she had been having dreams about Ricky for 2 weeks now. Every dream was different, but involved Ricky and their child. She was in a cold sweat and began to shiver. Amy slipped her feet into her slippers and threw on her robe, as she headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As Amy sat down at the kitchen table she tried to tell herself that it would all be ok. But how could it be? She is fifteen, and pregnant by a guy that is not her boyfriend, and never has been. Amy still couldn't believe that she had let things go so far with him that night at camp. She was so angry with herself and with Ricky. He knew that she liked him and he took it too far, but still Amy wanted him to come to her rescue and make all of this better. At least if he was with her she wouldn't be going through all of this alone. She was so confused and embarrassed to even think these things. But Amy realized that she really couldn't wait any longer. She had to tell her mother. It had been 6 weeks since she had first seen Dr. Hightower, and Anne was going to be furious as it was that she kept this from her for so long. Amy pulled her legs up in front of her so her chin was almost touching her knees. It was 4:45; only 15 more minutes before Anne would be up. Amy drifted off into her thoughts while she waited. As much as she wanted to, she didn't see how she could possibly keep this baby, nor could she hand it over to someone she didn't know at all. Abortion was the only option. It would be like it never happened. She could be a normal teenager again.

Anne rounded the corner and Amy thought to herself "this is it. Now or never". Amy sat quietly as her mother made her way from the fridge to the coffee maker without noticing her presence. It wasn't until she turned to head out of the kitchen that she was startled to see Amy sitting there.

"why didn't you say something? Why are you sitting all alone in the dark? Amy?" Anne asked sleepily.

Amy shifted uncomfortably before mumbling "I'm having a baby" She felt as if she was having an out of body experience. Her words seemed like they were coming out of someone else's mouth.

Anne thought that she must have heard her daughter wrong. After Amy confirmed that she was indeed pregnant Anne sat down at the kitchen table. Her mouth hung open as she tried to process the news. Her little Amy couldn't be pregnant.

In a house across town Ricky laid in bed awake; staring at his ceiling. Talking with Dr. Fields had helped to calm his nerves some, but he still couldn't get away from the fact that Amy Jeurgans was having his baby. His hands had been itching to get ahold of his drum sticks all night. Drumming always helped him to think better, but by the time he got home it was too late to practice. Ricky was lost. He wasn't sure what the next step was. He wanted to pretend like he had never heard that Amy was having his baby. He wanted to believe that it was Ben's baby. After all these months of thinking and dreaming about Amy he suddenly wanted to get as far away from her as possible. Ricky wasn't boyfriend material so how could he possibly be father material? He wanted to run away and never return. He wanted to forget everything. Ricky dragged himself out of bed to get ready for school. He wasn't sure how he was going to face Amy and ask her if everything he had heard was true. After his session with Dr. Fields last night he knew that there was no way out of this one. He would just have to face everything head on.

Ricky arrived at school early hoping to catch Amy before the halls were crowded. The less attention they got the better as far as he was concerned. Ricky knew that this would cause a stir with his many "girl friends" and he needed them. He had grown accustomed to having who he wanted when he needed. Having sex could keep his anger at bay and he didn't want anything to jeopardize that. Unfortunately Amy was nowhere to be found before the bell rung. Ricky thought that she could have slipped by him and into their first class…band. As he walked into the large room he scanned the crowd for her face, but nothing. _"Damn"_ he thought.

After class Ricky walked out to find Amy's best friends talking by her locker. He walked up to them determined to get some information, but he decided it might be more tactful to pretend like he didn't know yet.

"Hello ladies" he smirked. That always got em. "Is your friend Amy around?"

Both girls rolled their eyes and tried to ignore Ricky's presence. Both Madison and Lauren hated him. He had gotten their friend in trouble and they weren't about to make things easy for him.

"she missed band practice. Is she sick or something?" he continued. He got no response and he was getting irritated. "Do you speak?"

"I think she stayed home today" Madison finally replied.

"you think or you know?" Ricky asked

"I think if Amy wanted you to know where she was she'd call you." Lauren retorted with a glare.

"Maybe I'll ask your brother. Maybe he would know" Ricky snapped back. Ricky discovered that Laurens brother was one of the people he overheard talking about Amy being pregnant, and he was furious that he was just passing it around school.

"How do you even know I have a brother?" Lauren asked confused.

"cuz he's got a big mouth he should keep shut right now. We should all keep our mouth's shut, don't you think?" Ricky retorted.

Before either girl could respond Ricky was pulled away by Adrian. "_Great" he thought. "this is just what I need"._

"I tried calling you last night. All night." Adrian stated sounding irritable. She had heard the rumors too and she just couldn't believe that Ricky would be so stupid. He had always been so careful with her. Never once had they had sex without protection.

"Yea, I know that. I had to turn my phone off.I had to report into that guy I was telling you about, the guy who's like a parole officer. He has to make sure I'm not getting beaten or anything. After that I had to meet with him and my foster parents so they could confirm they're not beating me. That was my night."Ricky lied

__Adrian rolled her eyes before speaking_"_Yea, whatever. Have you heard the rumors going around school?"

"I'm not really into gossip" he replied getting very irritated at this point. Then it occurred to him that Adrian might know where Amy was. "I did want to talk to Amy Jeurgens about something. Have you seen her?" He asked, trying hard to disguise his concern. "weren't you going to give her a ride home yesterday?" he remembered.

Adrian had intended to tell Amy about George and her mother. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to get hurt again and she needed to find out from Amy what was really going on with her parents. "I offered her a ride" Adrian replied

"Why is that?" Ricky questioned. He already knew that answer, but he needed to hear it out loud to be sure.

"I wanted to talk to her" Adrian replied crossing her arms.

"About?" Ricky pushed. He was tired of the games. He knew that Adrian was jealous of Amy, but the way she talked about her made his stomach churn. Even with everything going on he still felt the instinct to protect Amy.

"A couple of things, including you!" She whispered and pulled him to the side of the hallway out of earshot. "I don't think it would be too smart if Amy had your baby." Adrian snapped.

"_Ahh, there it is" he thought. "So she does know"_ But once again, he thought it would be best for him to play dumb. "What baby?" he asked.

"You know what baby" She said as she pushed him slightly.

Ricky sighed before replying. "So, did you talk to her?"

"No, I couldn't find her, so I'm talking to you" Adrian snapped. She was furious. As far as she knew they had only been together the one time and she just couldn't believe that Amy was that stupid to get pregnant. Adrian had sex all the time, but she made sure that she was safe and protected. She didn't leave it up to the guy. No way did she want to be a mother in high school. But she couldn't help but feel a little bad for Amy. Adrian knew how Ricky was and she knew that Amy probably had no idea what she was getting herself into, but in Adrian's mind there were no excuses. She should have been better prepared. And now she was pregnant with Ricky's baby. Adrian was just praying that she wouldn't have the baby. This could ruin everything she had been building with Ricky and she just couldn't have that. "Look… leave her alone and let things take their natural course, ok?" She said much softer. She didn't want Ricky to run from her, so she thought becoming his biggest ally was the best way to keep his attention.

"Meaning?" Ricky was confused. He had no idea what Adrian meant by that.

"Meaning Amy Jeurgens is not having a baby at 15, so don't interfere. It's not like you could. I'm sure she's already taken care of it, which is probably why she's not here." Adrian said more forcefully than she had intended.

Ricky's heart sank. It hadn't occurred to him that Amy would have an abortion, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Of course it would make everything easier. He could just forget it ever happened and go back to his life. "Why would I wanna interfere with something like that?" Ricky replied.

"oh, I don't know. Maybe because you want to convince the whole world that you're a Christian now." Adrian said sarcastically.

"So let me see, you're jealous of both Amy and Grace?" Ricky smirked. His world was crumbling around him, but seeing Adrian so worked up was a great to his ego.

"I'm not jealous of anyone. We're just friends, remember?" Adrian rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure if they could ever be "just friends".

"Yea, I remember." Ricky chuckled, but he knew he could have her when and where he wanted. He loved having that control over her. It made him feel like a real man.

"Grace heard about Amy" Adrian said as she saw Grace turning the corner. Adrian wanted to expose Ricky for what he was. Grace was so naïve.

"Does seem to be all over school this morning." Ricky sighed.

"Please tell me you don't want her so badly that you'd pretend to care about that baby just to impress her." Adrian spat. Ricky was being just a little bit too cavalier about the whole things and she couldn't stand it any longer.

"You have a very low opinion of me. Don't you?" he replied. He couldn't help but think that it would help to impress Grace if he tried to stop Amy from having an abortion. Was he really that shallow? Did Adrian have him pegged from the beginning?

"Yea, I do." She replied as she stomped off.

Ricky was exasperated. He didn't want to be _that_ guy. It really did get under his skin that Adrian saw him as a slime. He was jolted out of his thoughts by Grace's voice.

Ricky found himself rambling a string of "less than truth's" to Grace. He went on and on about how it was Amy's idea to have sex in the first place and that he would never be irresponsible. He even went so far as to say it couldn't be his baby even though he knew good and well that it was. Grace had it on good authority from her mother that Amy was in fact pregnant and had been for some time. So she had decided that she would be the support that Ricky needed to get through all of this.

"Ricky… I'm trying to be a friend to you. You're gonna need a friend I think because Amy is really having a baby." Grace said calmly. Then Ricky said something that she just couldn't believe.

"But… well, I mean, maybe she was, but according to someone else she's taken care of it." Ricky whispered.

"What do you mean taken care of it?" Grace snapped back. "Do you mean an _abortion?" _Grace whipered.

"I think that's a possibility" Ricky responded. He wasn't sure where he stood with all of this, but he knew it would get a rise out of Grace.

"Oh, no! Come on. I will not let anything bad happen to your baby." Grace stated. She was in attack mode and wouldn't give up.

Ricky felt like his head was about to implode as he let out a huge sigh. His mind was reeling. What was he going to do?

Amy sat on her bed practicing her French Horn. Her mother had been in a frenzy since Amy dropped her new on her this morning and Amy was just trying to stay out of dodge. She thought that playing her horn would calm her nerves, but she found herself playing a lullaby as tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to push the baby out of her mind. Her baby. She thought she would try to talk to her mom again so she wandered into the kitchen as Anne was hanging up the phone. She explained that she was trying to make an appointment for Amy at her OBGYN's office. She also told Amy that she had left a message for George at his office. Anne was terrified to call his cell phone. She had no idea who he was with and she just didn't think she could bear to hear him with another woman right now. As furious as she was at George she still loved him and it cut her to her core that he could cheat on her.

" Do we have to tell him?" Amy asked. She couldn't bear to think of how disappointed he would be. She had always been his "little Amy". She just knew that he would see her different. Hell, she was different.

"Yes, Amy"

"Well, what if I just don't have the baby?" Amy asked timidly

"Not have the baby?" Anne asked back. Amy shook her head yes. Anne just couldn't imagine it. "Amy, you can think about…that. That's totally your choice, but… I don't think I can tell you to do that, and it's not a religious thing with me at all. It's just how I fell about… life. Maybe you can think about adoption. Or you can go away until the baby comes." Anne was trying her best to come up with some kind of solution besides abortion.

"Can I ask you something?" Amy started

"What?" Anne asked nervously. She wasn't sure if things could get any worse at this point.

"If I did end up having the baby, do you think I could get married?" If Amy couldn't have an abortion then the only solution was to marry Ben. He had the money to take care of her and the baby. And the more Amy thought about it the more she realized that Ricky probably wouldn't even want to be involved with the baby. She was totally alone.

"Married?" Anne replied, shocked. She couldn't believe that her 15 year old daughter had told her that she is pregnant and is now asking to get married.

Ashley came in and smarted off about her parent's marriage. Anne stormed after her and Amy headed back to her room. She took her prenatal vitamins and was about to sit down at her desk when her phone rang; it was her dad. Amy knew she couldn't put off telling him any longer either. The conversation didn't go as planned. Amy teared up and just couldn't get the words to leave her mouth. So, Amy handed the phone to her mother who was now standing beside her bed.

"She's pregnant George. Amy's pregnant" Anne stated coldly. George hung up the phone before he could respond.


	8. Chapter 8

**I know this chapter is super long. But there's a lot going on at this point and I really wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything. Please review! Thanks-Ash**

Amy collapsed onto her bed. She was exhausted. She felt like she had been crying for the last month and it was taking an emotional toll on her. She felt like her brain was a jumble and she couldn't think straight, but Amy knew that she couldn't ruin everyone's life by having this baby. She had to do something. Anne had taken her phone after the conversation with her father so that Amy wouldn't make any more calls before she had a chance to think about things. Amy was lost in her thoughts as Ashley stormed into her room with her cell phone in hand.

"losers called" she huffed. Ashley couldn't stand Madison and Lauren and she made no attempts to hide it. She had always felt that Amy was too smart and nice to be hanging out with those two. But Ashley had a new found hatred for them since they had told the whole school about her sister being pregnant. "_Poor Amy" Ashley thought. "She'll never be able to get through this"_

"You still have your cell. Mom didn't take it from you?" Amy asked eagerly.

"yea, she's in the show-" Ashley tried to explain

"Give it to me" Amy snatched the phone from Ashley and dialed 411.

She knew the one person that could help her. Adrian. She knew all about sex and the free clinic and everything, and she had a car! She could take her to get rid of this baby before anyone else found out. Ashley left to do some reconnesense while Amy talked to Adrian. She returned to find Amy standing by her window.

"Shut the door." Amy said quickly. "I'm… I'm not going to her doctor."

"Yea, ok, but where are you going?" Ashley asked suspiciously.

"I can't tell you because then you'd have information that a lot of others are going to want, but let's just say I'm taking control." Amy replied. She didn't want to keep this from her sister, but she thought it would be the best way to keep her out of trouble.

"You can tell me. I wont tell anyone. I think you can trust me at this point." Ashley retorted. She couldn't stand being left out of everything.

"Ashley, I know I can trust you. It's just better if you don't know. What happened to Dad? Where is he?" Amy said quickly changing the subject. George was supposed to be coming over hours ago to talk about everything.

Anne stormed into the room knocking Ashley out of the way.

"What's going on?" She asked her girls suspiciously. She could feel that there was something they weren't telling her.

"we were just looking for dad" Ashley quickly covered.

"well, he's probably over at the high school looking for Ben Boykevich." Anne replied.

"Ben?" Ashley questioned.

"Yea, that would be my guess." Anne replied confused as to why Ashley would question that.

Anne noticed that Amy and Ashley exchanged an odd look. She knew it! Something was up.

"Ok you guys, if there's anything else I don't know I think now's the time to tell me."

Amy explained that she had never had sex with Ben. Anne was in shock.

"Then who is the father?" Anne asked

"His name is Ricky. He's a drummer in band. We met at band camp this summer" Amy said as she began to tear up again.

Anne rushed out of the room to the phone in the kitchen. She had to tell George before he did something stupid to Ben. Anne had a bad feeling that she might be too late at his cell phone rang and rang before going to voicemail. She called the office and Leon answered.

"Oh, Leon. Is George still there? It's an emergency. I really need to talk to him." Anne said hastily.

"Of course, he has someone in his office, but I'll interrupt him."

While Anne was on the phone explaining to George that Ben was definitely NOT the father, Amy escaped out her bedroom window leaving Ashley to cover for her. Amy realized that her parents were never going to give her the ok to get rid of this baby, so she had to take matters into her own hands. She ran out to see Adrian's red convertible parked down the street from her house. She climbed in to notice Ben sitting in the back seat. She was instantly annoyed. She didn't want him here for this. She didn't want him anywhere near her right now.

"Ben, I really don't think you should be here." Amy said sternly.

"I thought you told him to come with us" Adrian rolled her eyes. "That's what he said."

"I can't let you do this" Ben started. "My Dad is talking to your Dad. He's trying to talk him into letting us get married." Amy sighed. As nice as the offer sounded she really didn't want to get married. She barely knew Ben.

"MARRIED!" Adrian exclaimed.

"Yes, married. I love her!" Ben affirmed. "I wanna marry her, and I also want some privacy here." He spat turning back towards Amy.

"Ben, I already told my Mother that it's Ricky's baby." Amy said softly. She was trying her best to get him to see that this was her only option.

"What'd you do that for!" Adrian yelled.

"Can you stay out of this please?" Ben stated sternly to Adrian before turning back to Amy. "What'd you do that for?" He exclaimed.

"It's the truth. She said she'd help me if I told her the truth. Ben, it's really nice of you to wanna marry me, but this is not your problem. This is my problem. "Amy explained

"Yea, well, now it's also Ricky's problem." Adrian spat. She couldn't believe that Amy would tell her parents that it was Ricky's baby. Now if she didn't get rid of it they would force Ricky to be involved, and she didn't want him anywhere near Amy. Adrian had noticed the way he looked at her, and she couldn't stand it. There was a spark there, and if Amy had Ricky's baby Adrian could lose him forever. "He's not going to marry you Amy, you know that right?" She said trying to make Amy mad enough to go through with this whole thing. "Ricky will never marry you"

"Yes, Adrian, I know that." Amy replied.

She had come to the same conclusion already and hearing Adrian say it out loud only made it that much more real. As much as she wanted him to, Amy didn't think Ricky was capable of stepping up and taking care of her or their baby. Her dreams were flashes of what she wanted to see happen, but she just couldn't picture it. Ricky Underwood, loving father and boyfriend? Yea, right.

"But I will" Ben whined. "I'll marry you. I love you! I don't care about anything else but you and that baby."

Ben was exhausting her patience. Amy may have been naïve, but she knew that there was no way that Ben could really be in love with her. They barely knew each other. They had been on one official date and talked on the phone a lot. They hadn't even talked about anything serious. It was mostly small talk until he found out that she was pregnant. Then it was nothing but him asking her to marry him, or to move in with him, or Ben just repeating how much he loved her.

Amy teared up, she didn't know how else to say it "I don't want to have a baby Ben."

"Of course you don't" Adrian purred. She was trying to sound helpful but it was clear what her motives were.

"But you're going to have a baby. And that's ok with me" Ben pleaded

"No, I can't. I just….I can't" Amy squeaked. She was losing her resolve with every second that passed sitting in the street.

"Yes, you can. It's gonna be ok. You thought the worst part was gonna be telling your parents. But now that you've told them everything gets better from here. They love you."

"Yea, I guess." Amy couldn't help but feel like she was causing everyone in her life so much pain. She could be responsible for so much heartache. She just couldn't. "My mom is talking about sending me to some home where the other girls are in the same situation. Ben, she's talking about adoption." Amy snapped.

"well then that settles it. Don't have the baby." Adrian offered. "You don't want some weird couple raising a baby that's gonna track you down when your life is finally getting better."

"Adrian, I'd be more than happy to double your car fare if you'll just shut up, ok?" Ben exclaimed. He was trying his best to help Amy make the right decision and Adrian definitely was not helping. He knew why she didn't want Amy to have this baby, and in his mind it was cruel for her to push Amy into something like this just because she wanted to keep Ricky within reach.

"Some things are more important than money, even to me." Adrian replied

That was it. Ben knew he had to hit her where it hurt. "He's not gonna marry you either. You know that right? Ricky is never going to marry you!" Ben could tell that that would do it. Adrian's eyes started to well up with tears.

"Ok, can you guys just drive me to the clinic?" Amy said coldly. She had enough to deal with without these two idiots fighting.

The clinic was about 20 minutes away and Amy drifted into a day dream as Adrian sped along.

_"Hey Amy" he said. _

_Amy was sitting on a bench by the lake and she was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even heard him walk up. She turned and smiled. _

"_Hey Ricky" she said timidly. _

"_What are you doing out here by yourself?" he said smirking at her. Amy loved the way he smirked. _

"_Oh, just thinking. I wanted to get away from everything for a bit. You know how it is. I can't think when I'm in a cabin with 3 other girls. There's not a moment of peace"_

_Ricky chuckled. "I can imagine. Do you want some company?"_

"_Sure" she replied. Her heart was pounding but she was determined not to look like a complete idiot in front of him. She got nervous when she realized he was staring at her. She turned to look at him and asked "what?" _

"_Nothing, you're just really pretty. You know that?"_

_Amy instantly turned beet red. She had never had someone openly flirt with her and she didn't know how to respond, but she loved the way he made her feel. It was almost like he could see right through her. _

"_u., I guess" She finally stuttered out. She hated that she stuttered when she was nervous. _

_Ricky reached over and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "No guessing about it…you're beautiful."_

Amy was jolted out of her memory as they pulled into the clinic's parking lot. She felt her stomach sink at the thought of what she was about to do, but she had to. She didn't know what else to do. Without a word she walked in the front door with Ben and Adrian on her heels.

"You guys can wait here" She said finally before disappearing down the hall.

Grace grabbed Ricky's hand and drug him to his car. "We have to stop her. Don't worry. I will make sure that nothing happens to your baby! I have lots of experience with these kinds of places." Grace chirped on about her church and the work they did at the clinic trying to prevent abortions. Ricky had no idea what he was doing, or what he and Grace were going to do once they actually got to the clinic. He hadn't talked to Amy about this at all and he wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't even sure that he wanted to stop her from having an abortion if that's what she had decided to do. His thoughts were swimming as he remembered that night.

_Ricky pushed himself up to hover over Amy's rigid body. He could tell that she was nervous, and was pretty sure that this was her first time. She hadn't made any protests so far, and she seemed to be enjoying it so Ricky went for it. He plunged his cock into her and could feel her tense up. He pulled back out and decided that he should be as gentle as possible. He didn't want to hurt her, but that old urge to fuck her as hard as he could until she was screaming started to flood back. "No" he thought. "Not with her" but he was so aroused that he only lasted for a couple of minutes before coming inside of her. _

_He pulled away to look down at her. She looked horrified. And he instantly felt a pang of guilt. "why did I do that?" he thought. He sat up and started to straighten his clothes as Amy did the same. She still looked like she was in a daze. He hated this, the awkward after sex talk. Instinct kicked in and he said "I'll see you around Amy". He walked out of the cabin leaving her huddled on the couch._

_When Ricky got back to his cabin he felt sick. He ran to the bathroom and threw up the hamburger he had recently eaten. He never felt guilty after sex. Usually he felt great. It was his release, and it made him feel like a real man. So, why couldn't he shake this awful feeling? Maybe Amy was different. "I'll just talk to her tomorrow and it will be fine" he thought as he climbed into bed. _

_The next day he searched for her everywhere. She wasn't in any of her usual classes or any of the places that they had met before. Ricky's heart sank as he realized he didn't even have her phone number. They were leaving camp tomorrow and he had no way of getting in touch with her. Ricky then remembered that they were going to the same school. He would see her in a few weeks. "that will have to do." He thought. "Maybe she's not too mad at me…"_

Ricky came out of the day dream as they entered the parking lot. They were here all right. He noticed Adrian's car immediately. Grace drug him out of the car and into the clinic. Ricky could tell that the lady behind the desk recognized Grace, and she obviously was not in the mood to deal with her this afternoon. Before he knew it they had all been kicked out into the parking lot to wait while Ben went back to see Amy. _"Ugh" Ricky thought. "I don't know what she sees in that guy. He's a complete weakling" _Before he knew it Adrian and Grace were practically screaming at each other. He had to admit that it was flattering to see two hot girls fighting over him. One knew him all too well, and the other he had completely fooled. He had almost completely forgotten about Amy for a moment. Soon, it would all be over and he could turn his sights to Grace. He was going to use this situation to the fullest.

"Forget about me. There's a very hurt and confused girl in there." _"wow" he thought. "That sounded really convincing._

"And who hurt and confused her?" Adrian asked. She could see right through Ricky's façade.

"Why do you have to blame everything on Ricky?" Grace snapped back. "Amy is just as responsible for what happened. She wanted to have sex."

"Oh, and that is so wrong, isn't it Grace." Adrian mocked.

"Outside of marriage, yea, it is wrong." Grace responded.

"It's normal. It's normal to want to have sex. It's even normal to actually do it."

"It's a sin"

"oh, yeah. And all us normal teenagers are going straight to hell. Is that what you think? You know what? Jack really liked it. And he would never be happy with you after being with me." Adrian knew it was a low blow, but this goody two shoes was making her crazy.

"I wouldn't want to be with Jack after he's been with you." Grace spat back.

"You want to be with Ricky and he's been with me too." Adrian said raising an eyebrow.

"Yea, well that's probably one of the reasons why Ricky wants to be born again." Grace said triumphantly.

"Oh is that right, Ricky?" Adrian said. She could see him smirking just out of Grace's view. He was making her crazy. How could he care so little about what was really happening in there.

"Again, I should not be the focus of concern here. Maybe we should all pray together… for Amy" he added with a smirk. He knew that Adrian wasn't buying any of it, but Grace was practically eating out of his hand and he couldn't help but enjoy it.

Amy sat in the cold examination room. She was shaking uncontrollably. A counselor came in and sat in the corner of the room. She had a friendly face, but Amy didn't feel like talking to a complete stranger about all of this. The woman asked a series of generic questions (age, sexual activity, etc.) before coming to the one that made Amy's heart stop.

"Have you ever had an abortion before?"

"What?" Amy asked. "N-N-No, of course not. This was my first time even having sex and it's never going to happen again…" Amy rambled on. The counselor smiled gently before continuing.

"Amy, I'm not here to talk you into or out of anything. I just want to make sure that you understand what you're getting yourself into here. This isn't something you can take back. Once it's done, it's done. There are a lot of women who experience severe emotional trauma when they rush into these things. Are you here of your own free will? No one is forcing you to do this are they?" She asked

Amy was stunned. She hadn't anticipated all of these questions and she was feeling sick. It took her a moment to compose herself before she could continue. "I don't want to get rid of my baby. I really don't, but I don't know how I can do this. I'm only 15. And the baby's father isn't even my boyfriend. I feel like such a slut… I'm not even sure if he wants to be involved, and I just…. I just don't know what to do" She said before breaking down into sobs. The counselor stood up and embraced Amy in a warm hug. She let lose all of the emotion that she had been holding for the past few hours. "Can you ask Ben to come back? I can't do this. I want to go home." She sobbed.

"Sure sweetie" She said before exiting the room.

Ben rushed to Amy who allowed him to embrace her tightly. She sobbed into his chest as she said

"thank you for everything Ben. I really just need my mom though. Can I borrow your phone so I can talk to my mom?"

"sure" he whispered into her ear. He just held her tightly and let her cry. He knew that she just needed someone to be there for her, and he was determined that he wouldn't mess it up.

Amy calmed down a bit before calling Anne to come to the clinic and pick her up. She couldn't ride home with Adrian. She knew that she wouldn't be happy that she had changed her mind and frankly Amy didn't want to hear it. Anne arrived and took Amy into her arms without saying a word. All Amy could say was "I'm sorry Mom". Anne just shook her head and lead Amy to the car.

The counselor had come out and told Ricky, Adrian and Grace that they should all head home because Amy's mother was on her way to get her. Before they could get to their cars Ben came out of the clinic. He told them that Amy didn't go through with it. She was going to keep the baby. Ricky was stunned. That meant that… he was going to be a dad… _"Oh God" Ricky thought. _

Ricky drove Grace home in silence. He couldn't stop his mind. He had never really anticipated Amy keeping the baby. This was going to ruin his life. How could Amy do this to him? _Maybe she did it on purpose, he thought. She was trying to trap him. She just wants someone to love her. Well it's not going to be me. I'm not the settling down type._ He had to talk to someone. He couldn't go home like this. So he headed to Adrian's. He knocked on the door and was met with a scowl.

"Can I come in?" he asked somberly

Without a word she opened the door further to allow him entrance. He sat at the dining room table and Adrian sat across from him. She was furious.

"Come on, could I get a little sympathy here?" Ricky pleaded. He had never seen Adrian this mad. He couldn't tell if she was mad at him or because Amy was keeping the baby. "This girl I don't even know and care nothing about is going to ruin my life." He said coldly.

"Your life? What about her life?" Adrian said nastily. She was disgusted with Ricky. He was acting like a complete creep, and yet she still couldn't help but want him to love her. She needed him.

"Her life is her business, and if she wanted to ruin her life, she should've chosen someone else to do it with." Ricky even amazed himself at how selfish he sounded. Amy hadn't asked for him to have sex with her, but he was good at playing the victim. He did it well, so he would stick with what he knew.

"You think Amy wanted this to happen?" Adrian said trying to control her temper.

"Adrian… of course she wanted this to happen. She wants out of her life, and she doesn't care how she get out of her life as long as she gets out. She's…unloved. She wants to be loved, by me, by the baby, that stupid Ben guy. Anyone. Everyone. She's got problems. I just got caught in her problems. Like I don't have enough problems of my own." Ricky had been rambling, but he was hoping that it worked. He really needed a release and at this point he wasn't sure what Adrian was thinking.

"Are you gonna marry her?" she asked

"Marry her? Is that what you're worried about?" Ricky had her. "Is that why you drove her to that clinic?" Adrian didn't respond. Ricky couldn't believe that he didn't see it before. She had pushed Amy into it. "That's why you wanted her to get an abortion."

"Don't be so dramatic. I drove her there because she asked me to drive her there."

"You know you told me she'd already taken care of this."

"I said I thought she had." Adrian snapped back. "I knew you'd go running around with Grace Bowman on a save the baby campaign. Like you care about an unborn child." Adrian had hit a nerve and she could tell so she pushed just a little farther. "Jeez, you don't care about anything but yourself. You're such a liar you know that?" Adrian said standing up from the table to get in Ricky's face. He stood up with her, not wanting to give her the advantage.

"Grace thinks I'm a nice guy, and you know what around her, I am a nice guy." Ricky confessed.

"And who are you lying to now, me or you?" Adrian replied coldly. "Nice guy? Huh, no. You're not a nice guy, and I'm not a nice girl. That's why you belong with me, not Grace and certainly not Amy, even if she is having your baby."

Ricky grabbed her waist and roughly pulled her towards him. He was willing to do just about anything to get her to sleep with him at this point. "You think I don't know that." He kissed her passionately. Spinning her around, he pushed her towards her bedroom. She didn't resist. Adrian knew that she should yell at him and tell him to get out, but the feeling of his lips on hers sent her into a trance. She had never been with anyone that made her feel that way, and she would do anything to make it last. As they reached the bed he wrapped his arms around her groping at her breasts. His hand roamed her body as he kissed her neck. He undid the zipper to her jeans and slipped his hand into her pants. Ricky could feel how wet she was already and that turned him on even more. He massaged her gently until he heard her moan. He pushed her jeans to the ground and undid the button and zipper to his pants. Ricky couldn't wait any longer. He plunged his full erection into her from behind and fell on top of her on the bed. He thrust in long slow strokes. He could feel his balls start to tingle signaling that he would come at any moment, but he wanted to prolong it as long as possible so he started thinking about things that would kill the mood a little bit. Before he knew it he was thinking of Amy. Picturing Amy beneath him, but she was looking at him lovingly. She reached up and kissed him passionately. He couldn't control it any longer and came with one last deep thrust. When he opened his eyes Adrian was grinning from ear to ear. "That was amazing" She gloated. Ricky was glad that she had enjoyed it, but he was losing it. This was supposed to make him feel better, but this was worse. "Uh, yea. It was…special" He finally got out. "Listen, I've gotta go. My parents will be looking for me." He said dryly as he reached for his pants. Adrian sat straight up and exclaimed "You can't fuck me like that and then leave." "Sorry…" he said without looking at her before slipping out of her room.

Amy sat at her kitchen table across from her mother. They hadn't said much on the way home and Amy couldn't stand the silence.

"I'm sorry" She whispered.

"I know you're sorry Amy, and I'm sorry this happened to you, but it did. You can stop apologizing, ok. Things are what they are, and we're just going to have to figure them out." Anne replied sympathetically.

"Please, just let me marry Ben." Amy asked. If she was going to have this baby she had to have some way to support it. Ricky didn't even have a job, and neither did she for that matter. She needed Ben. Plus he loved her. He would take care of them both.

"Amy, it's not just that you're too young." Anne started

"We're young, but Mom, he loves me… And I love him" she added.

"I know, and I believe it. I do. But you're in a difficult situation, and I don't think you should let Ben rescue you. Ok, if you're still in love in a few years, that's wonderful. Get married , right now let's see if you can take responsibility and handle this on your own. Ok, I'll help you through this."

"But if he's willing to help…"

"There are consequences to being rescued, believe me." Anne had never told Amy about her and George's little secret, but she thought that this was probably a good lesson for Amy to learn from her before it was too late. The last thing she wanted for her daughter was to have a baby at fifteen and be stuck with a guy she's not really in love with.

"What consequences?"

"It's too soon to know yet, but there are consequences. "

"I don't get why you think that." Amy said annoyed.

"I don't just think it, I know it. I've lived it. Your father rescued me…"

Amy realized from her mother's story that she would have to go it alone. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Her mother was willing to help her. Amy was exhausted by it all. She couldn't think about one more thing this evening or her head might explode.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey Guys! As always thanks for reading. It's so nice to see that people like it. Please review and let me know how I'm doing. -Ash**

Amy had been restless all night. So, she got up early and made breakfast for her mom and Ashley before they left. Everything in her life was so confusing and she just couldn't seem to make sense of it all. "_How did this happen to me?" She asked herself. "As much as I care about Ben, I couldn't imagine doing "that" with him. So how could I let Ricky? I hate him. He doesn't even care that I'm having his baby. How could I have sex with a guy who is such a jerk?" _ Amy couldn't admit to herself that the time they spent together at camp was indeed special, because if she believed it then Ricky had the power to hurt her, and she was determined not to let him be important. At this point he was just a mistake that she now had to pay for. Anne had given her the week off of school to sort things out. She really needed the time to think without people staring or talking behind her back. One thing she did know was that she couldn't go back to school like this. Amy didn't want anyone to see her this way. Not even her mother. She would leave tomorrow to go to Mimzy's house. She could have the baby and then just start over.

Amy paced the kitchen waiting for her father to arrive. She felt sick she was so nervous, but she had to talk to him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After another 15 minutes or so Amy saw him pull up in the driveway. She ran to the kitchen table and sat down. She didn't want him to see her stomach. She was already starting to show a bit, and she just couldn't bare it for him to look at her differently. A moment later George come in through the kitchen door. He glanced at Amy but didn't say anything as he went to the coffee maker. This was more awkward than either of them had anticipated. Amy just sat quietly for a moment then said "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry" She started to tear up again.

All George could say was "Why can't your mother clean out the coffee maker?" He had meant to say something sensitive and loving, but that was the best he could come up with.

"No. Dad… I meant…" Amy said as she started to cry.

" Aww, sweetie… don't do that, all right. You've been crying for weeks. Come on. It's ok." Amy shot him a look of disbelief. "Ok, it's not ok, but… I just don't know how this happened. I mean, how'd it happen, Amy? How is this possible?" George rambled off.

"Sex?" Amy squeaked.

George cringed at the word coming out of his little girl's mouth. He couldn't believe that Amy was old enough to even say that word let alone have done it and to now be pregnant. "I guess I should have talked to you more about personal stuff. Guys… where babies come from. But you really think you wanna go away and live with your grandmother? I mean, you think that's the best thing?" George asked. As much as he couldn't stand the thought of Amy having a baby, it killed him to think of her being so far away.

"Yea" amy whispered.

"was that your idea or your mom's idea?" he asked.

"I don't wanna stay here, Dad. I don't wanna face everybody." She sobbed

"what about Ben?" George asked. He thought that maybe being reminded of Ben would make her want to stay.

"I dunno, I still wanna marry him but… but mom still thinks it's a bad idea. What do you think? Do you have any new thoughts on that?" Amy pushed.

"maybe later… when you're 30." George replied.

"Yea… when the baby's my age, 15." Amy started to sob again.

"honey, everythings gonna be ok. These things happen. Mainly when uys talk young girls into doing things they shouldn't." He said angrily. He could kill that guy for this.

"It's not all his fault. I just let it happen." Amy admitted. It was the first time that she hadn't blamed Ricky. She knew that she could have said no, but a part of her never wanted to. She had wanted Ricky to love her, and she thought that if she had rejected him he would have gone elsewhere. But now she was stuck with him forever, whether she liked it or not.

"No, it's his fault. He knew what he was doing." George replied back angrily. He was starting to get worked up again, and he had promised that he wouldn't do that in front of Amy. " And this Ricky guy- he knows about this?" George asked.

"yea, he knows." Amy whispered.

"But you haven't talked to him face to face?"

"no. I don't want anything to do with that guy." Amy replied quickly.

"It's a little late for that." George sighed. "After you have the um…child. Then what?" he asked

" I dunno. I can't think about that right now, Daddy." She sobbed.

"You haven't called me that in so long, baby." George said tearing up himself. He leaned in and hugged her tightly as she cried into his shoulder.

Ricky woke up early and showered. He had hoped to get out of the house before his parents were up. He came out of the bathroom and grabbed his hoodie before heading upstairs. He opened the door and saw both of his foster parents sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and staring at him. He sighed and headed for the door hoping that they wouldn't want to talk.

"Ricky…" Margaret said in her motherly tone.

"ya?" he said quickly without turning around.

"we need to talk to you." Ricky walked to the table and sat down with a sigh. "son… what's this I hear about Amy Jeurgens being pregnant?" She asked pointedly.

"Is she?" he asked trying hard not to let the emotion show on his face.

"So, what are gonna do?" she asked, ignoring his denial of the situation.

"I'm not gonna do anything." He snapped back. The whole situation was getting out of his control and he was getting angry. He was only 16. He couldn't have a baby.

"Have you talked to her?" Margaret asked.

"No, I haven't talked to her" he replied.

"well talk to her" Shakur said trying to get his son to do the right thing.

Margaret and Shakur had known all along that Ricky was capable of changing his life around if he put his mind to it. So far nothing had seemed important enough for him to do so, and they were both hoping that being faced with fatherhood would cause him to step up to the plate and take some responsibility for his actions.

"I don't want to talk to her. I don't want anything to do with her." Ricky said angrily. He really didn't want anything to do with Amy having a baby. He had been really into her during the summer, and he had even thought he might have some real feelings for her, but a baby? No way!

"You've already had something to do with her, son." Shakur rationalized. He wasn't about to let Ricky abandon this girl. He had to help get him on the right path.

"You are not my dad." Ricky said harshly. He was tired of having this conversation and just wanted to get out of there.

"You're right. I'm not, but I've tried to be a good father to you, and now you're gonna be a father, so what kind of father are you gonna be? It's time to have a conversation. Go talk to her, today, before school." Shakur said firmly.

The conversation continued with Margaret asking about Amy's plans for school. Ricky hadn't thought about her actually staying in school. Everyone in the world was going to know that he knocked Amy up if she came back. That couldn't happen. It would completely ruin his game.

"She's not gonna come to school when she's having a baby. Can't you do something about that?" he asked. He was freaking out.

"And what would you want me to do about that?" Margaret asked back. She was getting a little impatient with his attitude. She saw so much more in Ricky than he could see and it disappointed her to see him acting like a child.

"Aren't you a social worker?" He asked impatiently.

"Yes, and I encourage teenage mothers to stay in school." She responded.

"Are you kidding me?" Ricky snapped and got up from the table.

" No, I am not kidding you, Ricky. I encourage you to take responsibility for whatever happened to this baby" Margaret said seriously.

"I'm not exactly the responsible type and neither is she, thus the baby." Ricky said before storming out of the house.

He knew that his parents were right, but he just couldn't deal with it. Not right now. He just needed a break from thinking about Amy and "the baby". _Adrian! He thought. _As he turned his car towards her condo. He drove quickly to make sure he got there before she left for school. She answered the door with her bag on her shoulder. Ricky knew she was about to leave, but did his best to convince her to stay with him today. "All right, you can stay here. I'll come back after lunch, but I have to turn in my English lit paper."

Ricky plopped down on the couch with a huge sigh. _Finally… some time alone. _He hadn't realized how exhausted he was. He allowed himself to settle into the couch and drift off to sleep.

_Ricky was standing in the middle of a pristine living room. The room wasn't familiar, but he could tell that whoever the house belonged to had money. He heard voices and started to wander down the hallway. He reached the end of the hallway and came to a door that was cracked open. He pushed it slightly to see Amy and Ben standing there. He called to her, but she couldn't hear him. He listened as they talked. Ben asked Amy how she was feeling and if he could get her anything. Then Ricky saw it. The baby was lying in a bassinet by their bed. Ricky walked over and looked in. The baby looked just like him. Was this his and Amy's baby? Ricky heard Ben again and turned his attention towards the two._

_ "Amy? Have you talked to Ricky?" Ben asked_

"_Uh, no. I didn't even tell him that I had the baby. I don't want to see him. He doesn't care anyways." She said coldly_

"_So, what would you think about me officially adopting the baby? Then we can get married and be a real family. The baby never has to know about Ricky. I can be a Dad and a husband to you Amy. ." Ben beamed. _

"_Yea, that would probably be best. I don't want my baby growing up knowing that their father doesn't care about them."_

Ricky woke up in a cold sweat. He couldn't let that happen! He remembered what he felt like as a kid when his parents would leave him alone or forget about him at school. He knew that his parents didn't want him from the beginning. Ricky would never wish that feeling on anyone, let alone his own child. As freaked out as he has been about the whole thing he knew that he wanted to be a good father, he just didn't know how.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ashley! What are you doing here?" Amy asked as her sister came in the back door.

"You didn't really think I was going to school did you? We're parent free!" She replied with a smile. "How'd it go with dad?"

"Fine. He cried, I cried. He wants to come home."

"Finally. Don't you think you're taking this whole thing a little too seriously? It's not like you're dying. You're just having a baby." Ashley stated. She knew that this was the last thing that her sister had planned, but she didn't understand why she was acting like it was the end of the world. She was so dramatic.

"Just? Just having a baby? Ashley, I'm 15. I don't want to have a baby! I just wanna be normal like everyone else. I wanna go to a normal school and be in the band and go to high school dances and fall in love and get married and then maybe… have a baby."

"Then why did you have sex?" Ashley asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. I didn't think about it. I didn't have a good reason. I just did it… I cannot believe this happened to me."

"God, why are you in such a bad mood this morning? I thought it was because Dad was coming over, but that's obviously not it. "

I'm not in a bad mood" Amy argued.

"Yea, you're right. You're in an angry mood." Ashley snarled back. "What? Are you angry at that guy Ricky?"

"No, I'm just angry with myself." Amy sighed.

Ashley could read her like a book. "No, that's not it. What? Is it Ben? God, how can you be angry with a guy who loves you despite the fact that you're pregnant by another guy?"

"I just can ok"

"Well, it's a step up from feeling sorry for yourself." Ashley said as she sauntered off. Ashley was tired of watching Amy mope around the house. Yes, she was having a baby, but it wasn't the end of the world. She had a great guy that was in love with her despite her situation and Ashley just couldn't believe that Amy took that for granted. "_She can be such a brat sometimes"_ Ashley thought as she headed towards her room.

Amy just couldn't understand why Ashley was being so hard on her. She was 15 and having a baby. She deserves some kind of sympathy. Ashley just doesn't understand what it's like with guys. She's never had a boyfriend or had sex. So she couldn't possibly know what it was liked.

Ricky got up still trying to shake off the ill effects of his dream. The thought of his child calling Ben Daddy made his stomach turn. But maybe this was his way out. He could just let Ben take control and he would be free to do what he wanted. Ricky wouldn't have to take responsibility for any of it. That wouldn't change the fact that he had been the one to have sex with Amy. Not Ben. And it was his baby that Amy was carrying. Not Ben's. As much as he wanted to he couldn't ignore it. He walked to the fridge and got a soda. He noticed that there were sandwich fixings and decided to have an early lunch. As he was making his sandwich he heard the door open.

"Change your mind?" he said with a smirk without turning from the kitchen. He knew Adrian wouldn't be able to resist him. Ricky would finally get the release he had been craving. But, he was surprised to hear a man's voice instead of Adrian's.

"who are you?" George questioned. George knew that he looked familiar but couldn't quite place the young man's face.

"I'm a friend of Adrian's. I didn't break in or anything…honest." Ricky wasn't sure why he felt the need to explain himself when he knew that this guy didn't belong there either. "Are you breaking in?" he asked

"I've got a key" George said plainly. "What's your name? I recognize you."

"Ricky… Underwood"

"Oh yea, I know you…. I'm Amy's Dad!" George glared at him. He wanted to kill him. This punk had ruined his little girl's life.

Ricky felt a lump form in his throat. "_oh god. He's gonna kill me. I wouldn't be surprised if he just beats the shit out of me right here. What am I gonna do?"_ Ricky thought preparing himself for a fight.

"Sit down." George commanded. He was going to talk to this kid. He just had to compose his thoughts first. He didn't want to do something that he would regret.

Ricky took his sandwich to the kitchen table and sat waiting for what this guy was going to do. Images of his father flashed through his head.

"_Ricky…. You've been a bad boy. I think it's time to teach you a little lesson on what it is to be man….."_

"Don't you hit me. If you hit me I'll hit you back, I swear." Ricky barked.

George was flabberghasted. As much as he hated this kid he had never really thought about hitting him. It made George wonder why that would be his first instinct.

"Why would I hit you?" he asked genuinely.

Ricky was surprised. Maybe he didn't know that Amy was pregnant. Ricky relaxed a touch and began to eat.

George took a second and thought that he should use this kid's fear. Even though he had no intentions of actually hitting him it wouldn't hurt to make him believe that he would. Maybe he could scare him into leaving Amy alone. He didn't want this guy anywhere near his daughter. He wasn't sure how he talked her into having sex with him in the first place, but it would never happen again, at least not if George had anything to do with it.

"Oh, no. I know. I know all right. And I'd like to hit you, but if I started I don't think I could stop. Cause I wanna kill you. But for one, I don't feel like going to prison for killing the likes of you, not that I couldn't get away with it, because believe me, people would understand. And two, I don't wanna lose any business for killing the likes of you. Which bring me to three, I wanna talk to you. So you listen up!" George said as he pulled up a chair to the kitchen table. He leaned in to get as close to Ricky as possible. "I don't want you involved in anything that my daughter decides. Is that clear? You have no part in the decision making process whatsoever. And whatever decision Amy and her mother and I make, that's it. That's the decision. Not yours. You have nothing to say." George yelled. He couldn't control his anger at this point.

"No, of course not. It's her baby." Ricky explained. He had no intention of getting in the middle of things. He wanted to be as far away from everything as possible right now.

"Don't be an idiot." George spat. "It's your baby too. But you're not gonna have anything to do with it. Ever! And if she wants to put it up for adoption, you're gonna sign when you have to sign." George said pointing his finger in Ricky's face.

"OK!" Ricky exclaimed. He wanted this guy to leave him alone, but he knew that this conversation was far from over.

"And if she ends up keeping it and she doesn't want you around, you're not around." George continued his rant. But believe me, you're gonna pay for that baby for the rest of his or her life. You! Not me. You! And that money doesn't entitle you to a thing. You give up all rights to anything and everything when you take advantage of an innocent fifteen year old girl."

Maybe Amy's dad was right. He should just leave Amy alone and move on. She would be better off without his involvement, and their baby would certainly be better off.

"I understand, and I'm ok with all that." Ricky said defeated.

"Band camp" George said disgusted. He couldn't believe that all of this stemmed from "one night at band camp". It was so cliché. "That's what people do nowadays at band camp, they have sex?"

"It just happened" Ricky tried to explain. He couldn't tell Amy's father that he really did like Amy at band camp. He couldn't explain to him how guilty he felt after having sex with Amy. And he certainly couldn't find the words to tell him that he was sorry. He was sorry for everything.

"_This kid has no idea"_ George thought. "Sex doesn't just happen. I'm a man. I know how hard it is to get a woman to have sex."

Ricky smirked as it hit him that Amy's Dad was Adrian's Mom's new boyfriend. He wasn't the only one in trouble from this little interchange.

"Why do you have a key to Adrian's condo?" Ricky asked

"It's not her condo, it's her mother's condo." George knew he had been caught. He just hoped that this kid was smart enough not to keep pushing. "And I'm…. putting some new furniture in for her mother and I came by to measure a room, not that it's any of your business."

It was never Ricky's style to leave things alone so he pushed. "No, but I notice you feel comfortable here. You opened a new jar of mayonnaise." He could see George's growing unease. "Are you seeing Adrian's mother? You're the boyfriend?"

George wasn't about to let this punk back him into a corner. "Let's just stick to the furniture story…"

Ricky scoffed. This guy had made him feel like shit about having sex with Amy, but he was doing much worse. He was married. Married with two daughters and he was cheating with Adrian's mom. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh what, you've got a problem telling a little white lie, but you don't mind ruining my daughter's life? Cause you ruined her life. You realize that, don't you? You ruined her life, her sister's life, her mother's life, and my life, not to mention the life of an innocent child." George yelled.

Ricky's whole life he had been told that he was a mistake and that he had ruined his parents life. He felt a fire burning in his stomach hearing those words come from Amy's father.

"I don't think I've ruined anybody's life." He screamed back.

George was done with the banter. This could last all day and he was exhausted by the whole thing.

"Why aren't you at school anyway?" George asked.

"Cause I don't feel like having people stare at me all day." Ricky answered honestly.

He had no problem being the talk of school when it was about him being the hot guy that all the girls wanted, but to know that people were staring and whispering because of what happened with him and Amy just seemed cheap. Though he didn't want to admit it his relationship with Amy was special and he didn't want it to be on display for the whole world to analyze.

"So what? You just gonna drop out of school then?" George questioned. He hated the fact that this kid could get away from his mistake if he wanted to, but Amy was stuck with this baby and this dead beat forever.

"No, I'm not dropping out. I can't just drop out of school. I'd like to, but I can't." Ricky said impatiently.

"Why not? Why can't you drop out, or go to another school? Amy's gonna have to go to another school. Why shouldn't you?"

Ricky felt a new wave of guilt pass over him as he thought of Amy. She was so sweet and innocent and this had turned her whole world upside down. He wished that he could tell her that he was sorry, and that he would take it all back if he could.

"Oh, that's right. Because people can see that she's having a baby, but you… you just get to walk around like the worthless piece of trash that you are!" George spat. "You stay away from my daughter and keep your mouth shut about me and Adrian's mom. No one knows about that except me, her and Adrian. And now… you." George said before storming off to the bedroom and slamming the door.

Ricky could feel tears welling up as he yelled "I'm not a worthless piece of trash!"

He had spent the last 4 years in therapy trying desperately to convince himself that he wasn't trash. After hours and hours of work with Dr. Fields he still didn't believe it, and now a complete stranger was telling him that he was trash. But somewhere deep down Ricky knew that he wasn't trash. He has made some mistakes, but he was not trash.

Dr. Fields was the only person that Ricky could talk to about all of these old feelings that the conversation with Amy's father had brought out, so without thinking he stomred out of the condo towards his car. He arrived within 15 minutes and stormed into the office.

"I'm not nothing. He has no right to talk to me like that." Ricky said as he paced the room. "I'm a human being. I'm as good as he is. I could've punched that guy." He shoved his hands in his pockets and squared himself to the spot where Dr. Fields sat.

"But you came her instead to talk it out, so you didn't punch him." Dr. Field said calmly. He had watched Ricky make a lot of progress in the past year and he knew that this was just a minor step back.

"No, but that doesn't mean that I wont." Ricky flared.

" I think it does" Dr. Fields said. He was trying to get Ricky to calm down and think.

"No, it doesn't. The next time he or anyone else tells me I'm trash, I'm gonna punch em." Ricky yelled.

"No, you're not." Dr. Fields said in the same monotone voice.

"Didn't I just say I was?" Ricky questioned. "I'm not gonna let anyone talk to me like that ever again!" For the first time ever Ricky felt like he wasn't trash to be walked on. He had spent the majority of his life believing that he wasn't worthy of anyone's love or attention, but he didn't want to live that way any longer. He wanted to prove to himself and to everyone out there that he could be a better person… a better man.

"Because you're not trash. You're a man. You're somebody." Dr. Fields continued.

"What are you sayin? I'm pourin my guts out and you're mocking me?" Ricky usually felt safe in this office, but he was so worked up that he just felt like Dr. Fields wasn't taking him seriously.

Dr. Fields smirked. "I'm not mocking you at all. I'm agreeing with you."

Ricky was geared up for a fight and wanted to push the issue"I don't know what you're talking about, ok. Half the time I'm here, I don't know what you're talking about or who you're talking to."

"That's because up until now, you didn't know who you are."

"Who am I?" Ricky knew he was being petulant, but he couldn't seem to control it.

"You're a man. As good as Amy's dad, as good as anyone else. You're a human being. No matter how you've been treated before in this life, you are a human being, and human being make mistakes." Dr. Fields explained

"How can I be a man who's as good as everyone else when I made the mistake of getting a girl pregnant? A fifteen year old girl is pregnant because of me, and I don't care about her or the baby. I just care that her father called me trash, and I'm not, I'm not trash." Ricky exploded.

"Because?"

"Because I'm not." Ricky said.

"That is as good an answer as any." Dr. Fields said, relieved that Ricky was finally getting the point.

For months he had been trying to get Ricky to see that he was no different from every other man in this world. Just because he had been abused and had come from a terrible background didn't mean that he deserved anything less than any other man in this world. "You're at the doorway to self-respect. Open it Ricky. Open it and go on in."

Since Ricky had discovered that Amy was pregnant Dr. Fields could see that he was changing. He wanted to help him do the right thing and to change for the right reasons so that he could offer his child a better life than the one that was presented to him.

"I don't know how" Ricky whispered with tears visibly forming in his eyes.

He knew what Dr. Fields was asking of him, but he just wasn't sure if he could do it. Could he really be a better person? Could he be a father?

"I think you do…" Dr. Fields responded.

Moments later Ricky heard his phone ringing. He hit the silence button and looked back towards his therapist. He plopped down on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair.

"So… where do we start?" Ricky asked

"Well, I think you need to talk to Amy. See where she is with all of this. She's probably just as scared and nervous as you are. You owe her that much, don't you think? But first, I think you should give Adrian a call back. She deserves to know what happened and to not be left hanging?" Dr. Fields said with a raised eyebrow.

Ricky dialed her number and waited as it rang. He explained that the day had taken an unexpected turn and that he had some things he needed to do so he couldn't come over.

"Amy's father said he talked to you. He's not trying to force you to marry her, is he?" Adrian asked anxiously.

"No, pretty much the opposite. Look, I can't just ignore the fact that I'm the father of a baby." Ricky explained.

" Sure you can, lots of guys do." Adrian replied.

"Lots of guys? Like who?" Ricky was surprised. He never thought he would hear any girl say that he should just walk away, not even Adrian.

"Like my father" she replied.

"I didn't know." Ricky was shocked. He knew that Adrian's dad wasn't around, but he had no idea why.

Ricky climbed in his car and turned up the music. It would take him a good thirty minutes to get to Amy's house and he was trying his best to drown out his own thoughts without much luck. He knew what he wanted to say to Amy, but he feared that he wouldn't get the chance. He had been a real jerk so far, and he wouldn't blame Amy if she wanted nothing to do with him. Although he had never been there Amy had told him where she lived one night at camp. He remembered it perfectly. Ricky realized that he could play back almost everything that she had ever said to him. He surprised himself as he thought back to their conversation.

"_yea, my dad owns a furniture store, and my mom doesn't work. We just live a few minutes from school. How about you?" Amy asked. _

"_oh, um, I live about 10 minutes away" Ricky responded. _

"_oh, so we live pretty close to each other?" Amy said eagerly. _

"_Yea, we should hang out when we get back home" Ricky said earnestly. He wanted to spend more time with this girl. _

"_Well, here's your chance"_ Ricky said to himself. Whether he liked it or not he was linked to Amy forever and he needed to man up and figure this out with her. Maybe he could show her that he wasn't such a bad guy. He wanted to go back to being the guy that she met at band camp. She made him want to be a better person and while they were together at camp he was.

He sauntered up to the front door and exhaled deeply. "Here goes nothing" he thought as he rang the door bell.

Amy and Ashley made their way to the front door. It was still before noon so both girls were a little curious as to who would be stopping by the house in the middle of the day. Ashley reached the door first as she heard a male voice say "Amy… it's me."

She stopped short in the hallway when she heard his voice. Amy's heart was pounding. "oh no" she whispered. What was he doing here? She turned so that her back was facing the front door. Amy had been waiting for Ricky to say or do something, and now he was standing at her front door. She had no idea what she would say to him. As much as she hated him right now, deep down she still wanted him to come to her rescue and to tell her that everything was going to be all right. She wanted him to take care of her and their baby and to make her feel like she had at camp before they had sex. He had made her feel like she was someone special, not just another one of his conquests. She turned from the front door as

"Who's me?" Ashley asked sarcastically.

"It's Ricky. Can I talk to you?" he pleaded. "Uh, is Amy home? I'm her friend Ricky." He said cautiously.

Ashley knew instantly how Amy had let him have sex with her. Ricky was hot, there was no doubt about that. And there was just something about him. Ashley just stood there staring at him. She heard Amy come up behind her as he looked to her and asked "could we talk?"

"I don't know." Amy said flatly.

Ricky knew that this was going to be hard, but he just didn't know where to start.

"I talked to your dad earlier. Or, he talked to me." He began.

"My dad?" Amy asked as she glanced at Ashley nervously. Ricky shifted his weight as he waited for some form of human response from Amy. "Look Ricky… I'm not sure I really want to talk to you right now." Amy snapped.

"And I'm not sure I really want to talk to you, but… we have to talk." Ricky said back. He wasn't going to be forced out of this. He had made up his mind and there wasn't anything that she could say to change his mind.

"No, we don't have to talk." Amy said back.

"Are your parents home?" Ricky asked. He was going to try to take the high road here.

"Why?" Amy exclaimed.

"If they're not I'll come back and talk to you when one of them is here, either your mom, or your dad, or both. I think it's best if we have a chaperone, a parent type chaperone, maybe not in the same room, but in the house anyway." He rambled.

"What do you even want to talk about?" Amy asked. She could feel her confidence growing as she realized how nervous Ricky was. She had never seen him this way and she wanted to take full advantage of it. He had messed up everything and she wasn't going to let him live it down. Ricky glanced at Ashley and she smirked at him. "She knows" Amy snapped.

"I know everything. And, I have condoms." Ashley said. Ricky was definitely her type and she was already wishing that it was her and not Amy that had been with him.

Amy rolled her eyes at her sisters comment and Ricky shifted his gaze nervously between the two. "I'll come back" Ricky said nervously. "Considering our situation I'd just like to have one of your parents here. But, I'd like to talk before you leave town. Are you leaving?" he asked sincerely. "That's the rumor around school."

Amy thought that she was seeing a change in Ricky. She could tell that he was being sincere, but she just couldn't let her guard down. "Maybe… Did you say you actually talked to my dad earlier?"

"Yea, and I made some promises to him I don't think I can keep." Ricky said honestly.

"Like?" Amy pushed

"Like I think I do wanna be involved."

"Seriously?" Ashley scoffed. She had him pegged as a complete creep, but maybe she had been too quick to judge.

"Involved?" Amy squeaked. Her heart just couldn't grasp what he had said and what that would really mean.

"Look… I'm the father of this child, and I think I should have some say in what happens here." Ricky was glad that he was finally getting this off of his chest. He felt like he was finally making the right decisions. "Just call me when I can come over and talk to you, ok?" He sighed and walked back towards his car. That didn't go as planned, but he felt like he handled it pretty well. He didn't lose his temper and he was hoping that he handled things well enough that Amy would call him.

Ashley closed the door behind Ricky and couldn't contain her smile. "Ok, now I see how it happened." Amy just huffed as Ashley pushed past her heading towards her room. She was still trying to process everything. Amy walked slowly towards her room and plopped down on her bed. Ricky wanted to be involved. Really involved. Amy wasn't sure if she should even talk to him about it at this point. He had pretty much ignored her since finding out that she was pregnant. And Amy was happy with Ben. Ben was willing to take care of her, and he had the means to do so.

Amy dialed her mother's cell phone number. Her mom would tell her what to do. "Amy?" Anne asked nervously. "Is everything all right?"

"Hey mom. Yea, I'm fine. I just… Ricky just stopped by here." Amy said tentatively.

"He did?" Anne asked, but was not surprised. "Well, I thought that might happen eventually. What did he say?"

"He wants to be involved…" Amy whispered and waited for a response.

"Then I think you should let him…" Anne replied

"But mom…"

"He is the father Amy. Just talk to him and see what he has to say." Anne continued. "He might not be such a bad guy if you just give him a chance."

"Ok. He wants to talk while you or Dad are here. When will you be back?" Amy asked.

"I'll be back before dinner. Tell him to come over around 6. See you then."

"ok mom" Amy sighed. "If I have to…" Amy hung up and exhaled loudly. She laid on her bed while her mind roared. She realized that she didn't have Ricky's number so she dialed 411.

"Hi, can I have the number for Ricky Underwood please. No, you can just connect me. Thanks" Amy said and waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Ricky answered.

"Ricky? It's Amy…" she said timidly

"oh, uh, hi. Thanks for calling." He stumbled.

"you can come over at 6. If you still want to talk…" she said quickly.

"Yea, of course. I'll see you at 6." Ricky was met with silence on the line. "Amy?"

"Yea Ricky?" Amy responded.

"Thanks" he said before ending the call.

Six o clock came quickly and before she knew it Amy heard the door bell ring. She opened the door and saw Ricky standing nervously with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"hey" she said as her heart beat escalated. Amy couldn't deny how cute he was, and she just couldn't find her will power while he was around.

"Hey" he replied as he stepped into the house. Amy motioned for him to sit in the living room.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Amy asked.

"well, I was just wondering if you had decided whether or not to keep the baby?" Ricky started.

"I think I wanna give it up for adoption" Amy replied dryly.

"Oh, I didn't realize that's what you were thinking." Ricky couldn't help but feel disappointed. He knew the heartbreak that came with knowing that your parents didn't want you and Ricky didn't think he could put his child through that. He wasn't sure why, but he was getting his heart set on having a baby with Amy. He already had an image of the two of them raising their baby together. Amy would keep it, and he would come over and help her whenever he could. It wasn't perfect, but it could work.

"Well, I am. I don't want to be a mother at fifteen. I just can't do it." Amy said

"Ok, well I'm not saying I'm against adoption. I'm just saying I'd like to know who's adopting, where they live, and if I can see my own kid." Ricky continued.

"I really don't see why you should have any say in this." Amy said coldly.

"Yea, you and your dad would pretty much like to ignore I even exist." Ricky said

" You know what? I don't know what my father said to you, but I am perfectly capable of speaking for myself!" Amy screamed. She was tired of being treated like a baby. She wasn't going to let Ricky or her dad make this decision for her.

"Since when?" Ricky snarkily replied.

"Since I got pregnant. That's when. Since I discovered I am going to have to take charge of another human being's life. You know, I might as well start with my own" Amy was furious. She really thought that he had changed and was interested in being a better guy, but obviously that wasn't the case.

"Ok, ok." Ricky felt guilty for making her so upset. "But I'd like to know where you are and what's going on, if you don't mind." He found himself wanting to jump up and wrap her in a hug, but thought better of it.

"Maybe I do mind." Amy whispered. As much as she appreciated Ricky's concern, Amy couldn't help but feel like everything would be easier if Ricky would just leave her alone. "I'll think about what you said, and I'll call you."

"When? When are you gonna call me?" Ricky asked desperately. Amy's rejection was making him feel desperate.

"When I feel like it" amy replied

"Ok, I'll take that. Thanks" Ricky said shoving his hands back in his pockets and heading for the door.

"You're welcome" Amy said sarcastically. "Now go home."

" Do you wanna exchange phone numbers?" Ricky asked as he stepped outside.

"No. I'm pretty sure I can find your number if and when I want to call you."

Ricky smirked and said good night. On his ride home he let his mind grasp his situation. He was going to be a father to Amy Jeurgens baby.


	11. Chapter 11

Ricky drove home slowly. He was exhausted from the days activities, but he didn't feel like going home and getting the third degree from his parents. Ricky didn't have any real friends. No one he could just hang out with, but that's not what he wanted anyways. He had done enough talking for one day. He needed something else and he knew just who to call…Candy. She was always willing and never made him feel guilty afterwards. She wanted exactly what he did, sex. Nothing more. He dialed her number and waited as the phone rang.

"Hey…" She answered seductively. "What are you up to?"

"Not much. I need to see you. Can you meet me somewhere?"

"Sure babe. Meet me at the park." She replied and hung up the phone.

Ricky pulled into the parking lot, got out of his car and headed towards a near by bench to wait. Within twenty minutes he saw her cherry red vw bug pull into the lot beside his car. He stood up and sauntered to her as she climbed out of her vehicle with a huge smile on her face. She was wearing a skin tight tube top and black mini skirt with knee high boots. "_Damn" Ricky thought. _

"So… I haven't seen you in a while. What's going on? Rumors are flying around school you know."

"Yea, I know. I'm still figuring everything out, but I don't want to talk about that." Ricky said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"No?" She purred and leaned in to kiss him.

It didn't take long for the kiss to turn into an aggressive battle of their tongues. Ricky's mind was clouded with lust as he heard Candy tell him to follow her. She led him into a nearby bathroom and locked the door. The building was nothing but cinder block and there was graffiti all over the walls, but Ricky didn't have time to study his surroundings because Candy was skillfully unbuckling his belt and pants. Ricky grabbed at her ass that was barely covered by her mini skirt, and realized that she was not wearing panties. He felt himself harden and he picked her up and placed her on the sink. She cringed as the cold porcelain touched her bare skin. Ricky fumbled to get the condom out of his pocket and opened and she snickered at his eagerness.

Candy reached down and stroked his cock while he tore the package open. He moaned and quickly slipped the condom on. In a split second he was inside of her and he moaned loudly at how good it felt. Candy wrapped her legs around his waist as he pumped into her. Ricky pulled her shirt down releasing her large breasts and sucked at her right nipple causing her to moan in response. Ricky pumped harder and harder until he was on the verge of coming. Suddenly Ricky saw Amy's face staring back at him instead of Candy. She was smiling at him the way she had the first time he met her. He stopped and slipped his cock out of Candy and kissed down her chest trying to shake the image of Amy. He lowered Candy to the floor and spun her around so that her ass was facing him. She gripped the sink and spread her legs; poking her butt at him signaling that she wanted more, and Ricky was happy to oblige. He thrust into her and heard her breath catch. This time he pounded in and out of her until he could feel his balls tighten. He held on tightly as he let himself climax.

Ricky sighed as they both fixed their clothing. His high was already leaving him.

"Thanks babe" He said and kissed her quickly.

"Anytime…" She replied and slipped out of the bathroom.

Ricky leaned against the sink and crossed his arms. He couldn't understand why he didn't feel better. Why did Amy keep popping in his head when he was having sex with other girls. She was the last person he wanted to think about. He was trying to forget her and the situation that they were in.

Amy had spent the evening watching movies with Ben. It was a comforting reprieve from the never ending war taking place in her head. After Ben left she went to her room and opened her laptop. She spent hours researching adoption and what the process entailed. For once Amy was calm. If she wanted to make things work with Ben she had no choice but to give up her baby. Although Ben said he wanted her to keep the baby, and for them to become a family, but it just couldn't work. Now that Ricky wanted to be involved he would always be around. Amy knew that she should be with Ben. She may not feel the same fire for Ben that she had for Ricky, but she could learn to love him. He loved her, and he could take care of her. Ricky would never be able to commit to her. She knew that much. Tomorrow she would go to her grandmothers, and there she would stay until the baby was born. No more stares and whispers. She would find a couple to adopt the baby, and after she had it she could come back and start a life with Ben.

The next morning Amy woke up to the smell of bacon. She got dressed and headed down stairs to see her grandmother making breakfast. "Mimsy!" Amy exclaimed. Her grandmother always had a way of making things better for her and she was excited to be staying with her through this ordeal. Amy was ready to get away from all the stares and comments.

Anne walked into the kitchen and was shocked to see her mother. She had discussed bringing Amy up to her, not her coming down to get her. Mimsy explained that she just couldn't wait and wanted to come down and visit for a while. Amy took Mimsy to her room to talk while Anne tried to figure out how she was going to avoid telling her that George was gone.

Ricky had been avoiding Adrian for days. He didn't need the extra pressure while he was trying to figure things out, but he knew he was going to have to talk to her at some point. As he walked through the hallway towards his first class he spotted her at her locker. He sauntered over ready with excuses.

"Look, I'm sorry I haven't called. I've been really busy. Learning about babies and stuff… Me. Can you imagine?" He said

"Nope, I can't imagine. But, if you wanna come over, I'll remind you of where babies come from" She replied with a smirk.

"I know you don't take my problem seriously, but I care about this baby. "

"Or… do you think you should care and you're just acting like you care?"

"What's the difference?"

"Exactly… Look Ricky. If you're going to be involved with Amy and the baby I don't think I can see you anymore." Adrian said honestly.

"Why not?"

"because I don't want to…"Adrian replied as her eyes drifted to Grace walking down the hall. Adrian knew that Ricky was pretending to care about Amy and her baby because he thought it would impress Grace. And maybe on some level he thought it would impress Amy, even though she didn't want anything to do with him. "Grace!" she called out to her new found peppy friend.

"Hi Adrian! Hi Ricky!" Grace said a little too eagerly.

"So thanks for letting me come by the other night. I had a really nice time. Did you know Grace and I are friends?" Adrian said staring Ricky straight in the eye. She was determined not to play second fiddle to Amy, or Grace, or anyone else for that matter.

"Grace and I are friends too" Ricky replied with a smirk.

"We're all friends right?" Grace said to both of them.

"And as of right now, that's all we are." Adrian said goodbye to Grace and walked away.

Ricky couldn't believe that Adrian was turning him down, but then again he didn't really think that she would have the conviction to stick with it. He could sweet talk her into just about anything.

"She's just upset because I've decided to do the responsible thing and be more involved with Amy and the baby." Ricky explained as he watched Adrian walk away.

"Oh, I didn't know.I heard she wasn't coming back to school. " Grace replied

"Yea, she's going to her grandmother's. She's running away like a child. I mean it might be a good time to grow up. There are schools for girls like her."Ricky tried to explain. He needed someone to be on his side with this, but by the look on Grace's face she wasn't buying it either. What did he have to do to prove that he was trying to step up here?

"I guess it's just a little harder for her to come to school than you because soon people are gonna be able to look at her and see that she's pregnant. " Grace said sympathetically

"People are lookin at me too!" Ricky whined.

"Yea, I guess they are. Maybe…" Grace wasn't sure if Ricky was being genuine or if this was a show. She just couldn't tell anymore.

"It just goes with the territory. We did something we shouldn't have and now we're both having to suffer the consequences. "

"Yes, I just hope the baby isn't paying the she planning on keeping the baby?" Grace replied.

"I hope so, but I think she's leaning towards adoption." Ricky answered

"That's good. Don't you think?" Grace said eagerly.

"I don't know. I don't know what it's like to be adopted." Grace had struck a nerve and Ricky was having a hard time covering it up.

"Ricky, I'm sorry" She replied.

"That's ok." He answered. He could see that she was feeling guilty now so this was his chance. "Look, you think I can come over tonight and talk to you? I really need someone to talk to about this. Someone who's not so emotionally involved, ya know?"

Grace was hesitant. She had heard all of the rumors about Ricky, and was face to face with the situation that Amy was in because of this guy. But she just couldn't seem to help it. She was intrigued by his bab boy nature. She wanted to help him. She wanted to be the one to change him.

"Excuse me for a second. I have to ask Amy's friend something." Ricky said abruptly. "Hey, it's Madison right?"

"What do you want? And if it's sex, forget it!" the red head said hastily.

"No, but thank you for offering" Ricky replied cockily.

"Is that what you consider an offer?" Madison scoffed

"I just wanted to know if Amy's left for her grandmother's yet." Ricky was growing impatient. He hated that the thought of Amy leaving made him so upset. Wouldn't it be better if she just went away and gave their baby to some couple who could take care of them? He could just move on and live his life without worrying about her. But the thought of her leaving made his heart drop.

"Well, I can neither confirm or deny that." Madison replied with a smirk. She loved having knowledge that other people didn't.

"What are you running for office or something?" Ricky said impatiently. He wasn't in the mood for the games. "I know what's going on. I know she's going to her grandmother's. I just want to know if she's left yet. I'd like to call her. I need her number."

"Well, I'm not gonna give you her number" Madison replied coldly. "If Amy wanted you to have her number, she would have given it to you. And you don't have it, so she obviously doesn't want you to call her. Obviously!"

"Wow" Ricky said with a smirk.

"Wow? Wow what?" Madison snapped.

"You have incredible eyes, you know that?" He said in his most seductive tone.

"Thank you" Madison blushed. Then she realized that he was just manipulating her and yelled "Hey!"

"Come on, let me have the number" Ricky said putting on his most pitiful puppy dog face. That always worked.

"Nope. I will not let you have her number" Madison said matter of factly and walked away very pleased with herself for not giving in.

Mimsy and Amy talked for a while. She made it seem like having a baby would be a piece of cake. Amy started to think that maybe she could have this baby. Amy was lost in her thoughts when Mimsy pulled a blue sweater out of her bag. Mimsy explained that it was Anne's when she was pregnant with her. Amy walked to the kitchen to show her Mom.

"Wait, that's mine isn't it?" Anne asked.

"Mimsy brought it for me. She said she has a lot of your stuff that might fit." Amy said with a smile.

"I didn't know that you saved that. I loved that sweater." Anne said as she remembered.

"Do you remember when you wore it?" Mimsy asked.

"Well, I don't remember if it was a special occasion, but I wore it a lot." Anne replied

"You wore it when you were pregnant with Amy." Mimsy replied

"No, I don't think so. I think I was in junior high." Anne replied cautiously. Something was off with her mother. She knew it when she had shown up unannounced this morning, but now she knew something was up. Anne had worn that sweater when she was 14. She never would have been able to fit into it as an adult. Mimsy went on to tell Anne that she and Amy had decided that it would be best to keep the baby. Anne's heart sank though when she told Amy that the baby could stay in one of the kitchen drawers while it was little. Something was seriously wrong…


End file.
